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OUTLINES OF MAHAYANA BUDDHISM BY DAISETZ TEITARO SUZUKI THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA GIFT OF Lt. Col. George White Add to ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. K. J. BRILL, PRINTERS, LEYDEN, HOLLAND. OUTLINES OF MAHAYANA BUDDHISM BY DAISETZ TEITARO SUZUKI LONDON LUZAC AND COMPANY (OPPOSITE THE BRITISH MUSEUM) PUBLISHERS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. 1907. PREFACE. The object of this book is twofold: (i) To refute many wrong opinions which are entertained by Western critics concerning the fundamental teachings the of Mahayana Buddhism scholars of the by ; (2) To awake of comparative religion religious sentiment and interest in the among development faith as exemplified the growth of one of the most powerful spiritual forces in the world. popular and scholarly. The book It is therefore at once is popular in the sense that expose the fallacy of the general attitude assumed by other religionists towards Mahayanism. it It tries to aims to be scholarly, on the other hand, when endeavors to expound some of features of the doctrine, historically In attempting object, however, the most it salient and systematically. accomplishment of this latter the author makes no great claim, the impossible to present within this prescribed space all the data that are available for a comprehensive and systematic elucidation of the because it is whose history began in the and ran through a period of more than two thousand years before it assumed the form in which it is at present taught Mahayana Buddhism, sixth century before the Christian era in the Orient. During this long period, the 928 Mahayana VI doctrine was elaborated by the best minds that India, Tibet, China, wonder then and Japan that so ever produced. It is no diverse and apparently many comprised under the general name of Mahayana Buddhism. To expound all these theories even tentatively would be altogether contradictory are teachings outside the scope of such a could or work as this. All that essential topics of this a sort of introduction to a of exposition the I do was to discuss a few of the to hoped most general and most making all Mahayanism, more detailed system as a whole as well as in particular. To have gone occasionally within which I had properly to attain the first object, outside the sphere I confine the work. But this deviation reason the for some that seemed imperative critics are so prejudiced that even seemingly self-evident truths are not prehended by them. I may be way, but very frequently pletely I com- my own how comcan be made prejudiced in have wondered and how wretchedly some people the prey of self-delusion. The very doctrinal little history known to of Mahayana Occidental Buddhism scholars. This is is mainly due to the inaccessibility of material which is largely written in the Chinese tongue, one of the most difficult of languages for foreigners to master. In this age of liberal culture, it is a great pity that so few of the precious stones contained in the religion of Buddha nature is are obtainable essentially the by Western people. Human same the world over, and VII whenever and same the wherever phenomena; and spiritual strengthens our faith the in ultimate conditions in reign of lovingkindness. and to share In say my concluding that with a this full which he findings with this little prelude, book knowledge of will not my fail to is my It is my intellectual attain- be allowed to pursue shall I this fact ever the universality of truth and sincere desire that in so far as ment permits mature we see my study fellow- beings. the author wishes to presented to the public many defects, to revise make use of every oppor- its tunity offered him. DAISETZ T. SUZUKI. CONTENTS. PREFACE . v . INTRODUCTION (1) Two I The Mahayana and Htnayana Buddhism. Why the Doctrines? -- The Original Meaning of Mahay- An ana. Older Classification of Buddhists. Mahay- ana Buddhism defined I Is the Mahayana Buddhism the genuine teaching Buddha ? No Life Without Growth Mahayanism a of (2) 1 1 Living Religion Some Misstatements about the Mahayanism. Why Done to Buddhism. Examples of Injustice. 16 Beal. Waddell Monier Monier- Williams. (3) Injustice . (4) - . The Significance of Religion. No Revealed Religion. The Intellect and Imagination. The Mystery. Contents of Faith vary CHAPTER i. 24 A GENERAL CHARACTERISATION OF BUDDHISM 32 No God and No NonKarma. Soul. Avidya. DharmaThe Non-atmanness of Things. atman. kaya. CHAPTER Nirvana. n. Intellectual HISTORICAL Tendency CHARACTERISATION of Buddhism. OF MAHA- 60 YANISM Principal -- Seven Conception of Mahayanism. Features of Mahayanism. - - Ten Essential Sthiramati's Features of Mahayanism. SPECULATIVE MAHAYANISM. CHAPTER in. PRACTICE AND SPECULATION Relation of Feeling and Intellect. - . - 77 Buddhism and . . . Religion arid Metaphysics. Speculation. CHAPTER iv. CLASSIFICATION OF KNOWLEDGE. 87 Illusion. Relative Three Forms of Knowledge. -- Absolute World-Views Knowledge. Knowledge. founded on the three Forms of Knowledge. Trans. . cendental Truth and Relative Understanding. BHUTATATHATA (SUCHNESS) The "Thundrous Silence." Indefinability. CHAPTER v. ness Conditioned. Theory CHAPTER The Questions Defying Solution. of Ignorance. vi. 99 Such- Dualism and Moral Evil. THE TATHAGATA-GARBHA AND THE ALAYA- VIJNANA 125 The Alaya-vijnana and The Garbha and Ignorance. The Manas. The Samkhya Philosophy its Evolution. and Mahayanism. CHAPTER THEORY OF NON- ATMAN OR NON-EGO 140 The Buddha's First Line of Inquiry. vn. THF. Atman. -- - - Skandha. -- Ananda's King Milinda and Nagasena. Atman and the "Old Attempts to Locate the Soul. The Vedantic Conception. Man." Nagarjunaonthe The Svabhava. Non-atman-ness of Things. Soul. Real Significance of Emptiness. CHAPTER vm. Definition. KARMA The Working --An Individualistic Karma and Determinism. Stock and the tality.. .181 Karma and View of Karma. The Maturing of Good ImmorAccumulation of Good Merits. Social injustice. - of Karma. XI PRACTICAL MAHAYANISM. CHAPTER THE DHARMAKAYA ix. Object. Dharmakaya. Dharmakaya as Religious More Detailed Characterisation. The - Dharmakaya and The Dharmakaya Individual Beings. Later Mahayanists' View of the Dharmakaya. as Love. The Freedom - 217 -- God. of the Dharmakaya. -- The Will of the Dharmakaya. CHAPTER x. THE DOCTRINE OF TRIKAYA. The Human and . . 242 the Super-human Buddha. -- Who was Buddha Historical View. . An The Trikaya ? Revelation in as Explained in the Suvarna-Prabha. -The of Culture. Sambhogakaya. Stages All A - Mere Subjective Existence. Mahayanists. CHAPTER xi. THE BODHISATTVA The Three Yanas. Buddhism. We dha's - Life. Meaning - of Modern Recapitulation. Doctrine of Parivarta. Karuna. Attitude of are The 277 Strict Individualism. - all Bodhisattva Bodhisattvas. Bodhisattva in The "Primitive" The BudThe Love and and Love. Bodhi and Bodhicitta. Nagarjuna and Sthiramati on Bodhicitta. The Awakening of the Bodhicitta. The Bodhi- sattva' s Pranidhana. CHAPTER xn. TEN STAGES OF BODHISATTVAHOOD .311 Gradation in our Spiritual Life. -- Pramudita. Vimala. -- Prabhakari. -- Arcismati. Sudurjana. Bhimukhi. - - Durangama. - - Acala. Sadhumati. Dharmamegha. - - XII NIRVANA CHAPTER xiu. Nihilistic Positive. 331 Nirvana not the First Object. Nirvana The Mahayanistic Conception of Nirvana. is - Nirvana as the Dharmakaya. Nirvana in its Fourth Nirvana and Samsara are One. - The Middle Sense. Course. How Intelligence. to Realise Nirvana. -- Conclusion APPENDIX, HYMNS OF MAHAYANA FAITH. INDEX Love Awakens . . . 375 409 INTRODUCTION. i. THE MAHAY ANA AND THE HINAYANA BUDDHISM. HPHE terms "Mahayana" and "Hinayana" may sound unfamiliar to most of our readers, perhaps even to those who have devoted some time to the study of Buddhism. They have hitherto been "* induced to Buddhism, believe that there is but one form of and that there exists no such distinction Mahayanism and Hinayanism. But, as a matter of fact, there are diverse schools in Buddhism just as as in 'other religious systems. It is said that, within a few hundred years after the demise of Buddha, there were more- than twenty different schools, t all claiming 1 According to Vasumitra's Treatise on the Points of Conby the Different Schools of Buddhism, of which there are three Chinese translations, the earliest being one by Kumarajiva (who came to China in A. D. 401), the first great schism seems to have broken out about one hundred years after the Buddha. The leader of the dissenters was Mahadeva, and his school was known as the Mahasangika (Great Council), while the orthodox was called the school of Sthaviras (Elders). Since then the two schools subdivided themselves into a number of minor sections, twenty of which are mentioned by Vasumitra. The book is highly interesting as throwing light on the early pages of the history of Buddhism in India. tention i INTRODUCTION 2 be the orthodox teaching of their master. These, however, seem to have vanished into insignificance to one after quite different predecessors, cance as when another, in its but far there arose a general tially, its more important in its signifinew school or made itself so prominent in the mean- time as to stand distinctly alone from which it school from a religious movement. This rather system schools, new constitution latter taught became everything all the other by itself. Essenwas considered to a class that it was very comprehensive in its and method and scope. And, by reason of principle Buddhism was now split into two great systems, this, be Buddhistic, but Mahayanism and Hinayanism, the latter indiscriminately the minor schools which preceded including all hayanism in their Ma- formal establishment. Broadly speaking, the difference between Mahayanism and Hinayanism is this Mahayanism is more liberal and progressive, but in many respects too metaphysical and full of speculative thoughts that frequently : reach a dazzling eminence Hinayanism, on the other hand, is somewhat conservative and may be considered : in many points to be a rationalistic ethical system simply. literally means "great vehicle" and Hinaor inferior vehicle," that is, of salvation. "small yana Mahayana This of distinction recognised only by the followers because it was by them that the is Mahayanism, unwelcome title of Hinayanism was given to their rival brethren, thinking that they were more pro- INTRODUCTION gressive the of and had a more assimilating energy than The latter. course, genuine teaching of Buddha, and insisted not be any other Buddhism than could there their to own, was a adherents of Hmayanism, as a matter sanction the Mahayanist doc- refused to trine as the that 3 them naturally the Mahayana system sort of heresy. Geographically, the progressive school of Buddhism found supporters in Nepal, Tibet, China, Corea, its and Japan, while the conservative school established 1 itself in Ceylon, Siam, and Burma. Hence the Mahayana and the Hinayana are also known respectively Northern and Southern Buddhism. passant, let me remark that this distinction, however, is not quite correct, for we have some En The Anagarika Dharmapala of Ceylon objects to this geographical distinction. He does not see any reason why the Buddhism of Ceylon should be regarded as Hinayanism, when it teaches a realisation of the Highest Perfect Knowledge (Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi) and also of the six Virtues 1 these two features, among some others, being considered to be characteristic of Mahayanism. when the so-called Mahayanism gained It is possible that of Perfection (Paramita), over Central India in the times of Nagarjuna also found its advocates in the Isle of Lion, or at least the followers of Buddha there might have been influenced to such an extent as to modify their conservative great power all and Aryadeva, At the present stage of the study of Buddhism, how- views ever, When it it is not yet perfectly clear to see how this took place. thorough comparative review of Pali, Singhalese, Tibetan, Sanskrit, and Chinese Buddhist documents is effected, we shall be able to understand the history and development of a Buddhism to its full extent. INTRODUCTION 4 and Japan, whose equivalent or counterpart cannot be found in the so-called Northern schools China in Buddhism, that is, Buddhism flourishing in Northern India. For instance, we do not have in Nepal or in Tibet anything like the Sukhavati sects of Japan or China. Of course, the general essential ideas of the Sukhavati philosophy are found in the sutra literature as well as in the writings of such authors as Agvaghosa, Asanga, and Nagarjuna. But those ideas were not developed and made into a new sect as they were in the East. divide to Therefore, Buddhism it may be more proper into three, instead of two, geo- graphical sections: Southern, Northern, and Eastern. the two Doctrines? Why two schools, Hinayanism and Mahayanism, are no more than two main issues of one original source, which was first discovIn spite of this distinction, the ered by (Jakyamuni find of many common traits which are essential to both The spirit that animated the innermost of Buddha Northern in them not is some. ing we them. heart as and, as a matter of course, ; It of is schools radical religious the of hand, preserve The or difference between qualitative as imagined by due, on the one hand, to a general unfold- the broadening other perceptible in Southern as well is Buddhism. the to consciousness with efforts to literally conservative monastic started rules the a constant horizon, and, on the intellectual the and and same traditions. spirit, Both pursuing the INTRODUCTION same course. But 5 one did not after a while feel necessity for broadening the spirit of the master any and adhered to his the actuated by a liberal and comprehensive other, sources, in were vigorous and that diverse inclinations led available all order to unfold the germs in the original system rally as literally as possible; whilst drawn nourishments from has spirit, words the to These generative. primitive Buddhists natu- among dissension af Mahayanism and Hi- nayanism. We as to in the cannot here enter into any detailed accounts what external and internal forces were acting body of Buddhism system, or as to as to absorb that came answer in how to produce the gradually and assimilate in contact general quently asked with all it. it Mah^yana unfolded itself so the discordant thoughts Suffice it to state terms the question which is and fre- by "Why Buddhism ever allow itself to be differentiated into two systems, which are apparently in contradiction the did one uninitiated: more than one point with each other?" In other words, "How can there be two Buddhisms equally in representing the true doctrine of the founder?" The reason is plain enough. The teachings of a great religious founder are as a rule very general, comprehensive, and many-sided are great possibilities in interpretations by his them : and, therefore, there to allow various liberal disciples. And it is on this very account of comprehensiveness that enables followers of diverse needs, characters, and trainings to O INTRODUCTION and severally satisfy their spiritual appetite universally with the teachings of their master. This comprehensiveness, however, is not due to the intentional use by the leader of ambiguous terms, nor and confusion of scurity conceptions. movement, spiritual no time to think out has lectual, own his due to the ob- it a of initiator is The as well as intelall its possible and consequences. When the principle of the movement is understood by the contemporaries and details of foundation the part as initiator can safely be take up will is over to his successors. left the particulars, while down, his own and the remainder accomplished; solidly laid is it work and making all carry it role to be played rily indefinite sophy, by the has its originator Therefore, is necessa- and comprehensive. for instance, as Kant, latter all necessary alterations and ameliorations according to circumstances. the The out in become the promoter of German philo- father of such diverse philo- systems as Jacobi's Fichte's, Hegel's, Schopenhauer's, etc., while each of them endeavored to sophical develop some points indefinitely or covertly or indirectly stated by Kant himself. Jesus of Nazareth, as instigator Judaism, did of a not doctrines, such as doctors. The parent that ples a disciples sort it have were established indefiniteness of his dissension, cherished a against any stereotyped theological caused even of movement revolutionary by Christian views was so aplater among his personal disci- while a majority of his visionary hope for the advent INTRODUCTION. 7 divine kingdom on earth. But those externaliwhich are doomed to pass, do not prevent the movement once awakened by a great spirit of the a of ties more powerful and leader from growing The same of that spirit as thing can be said of the teachings of the What he Buddha. Buddhism. special needs was the inspired in his followers religious system which Guided by this spirit, severally developed to the noble. is now known his followers his teachings as required and circumstances, distinction of by their finally giving birth Mahayanism and Hinayanism. The Original Meaning of Mahayana. The term Mahayana was first used to designate the highest principle, or being, or knowledge, of which the universe with all its sentient and non-sentient beings is a manifestation, and through which only can attain final salvation (moksa or nirvana). the name given to any religious was not Mahayana doctrine, nor had it anything to do with doctrinal they controversy, though later it was so utilised by the progressive party. Agvaghosa, the first Mahayana expounder known to used the us, living about the time of Christ, term on in his religio-philosophical book called Discourse ' Awakening of Faith in the Makdydna as 2 synonymous with Bhutatathata, or Dharmakaya, the the 1 Translated into English by the author, 1900. The Open Court Pub. Co. Chicago. 2 These terms are explained elsewhere. INTRODUCTION 8 recognition and of, He of Mahayanism. principle highest faith in, likened the being and this highest conveyance which will carry us safely tempestuous ocean of birth and death principle into a across the (samsara) to the eternal shore of Nirvana. Soon after him, however, the controversy two the schools of Buddhism, between conservatives and as we might call them, became more and more pronounced and when it reached its climax which was most probably in the times of Nagarjuna progressionists ; and Aryadeva, i. e., a few centnries after Acvaghosa, progressive party ingeniously invented the term Hmayana in contrast to Mahayana, the latter having the been adopted by them as the watchword of their The Hinayanists and the Tirthakas * then were sweepingly condemned by the Mahayanists as own school. inadequate to achieve a universal salvation of sentient beings. An Older Classification of Buddhists, Before the distinction of Mahayanists and Hinayanists definite, that is to say, at the time of Nagar- became juna or even before it, those Buddhists more progressive and broader view three yanas among who held a tried to distinguish the followers of the Buddha, viz., Bodhisattva-yana, Pratyekabuddha-yana, and (Jravaka- yana; yana being another name for 1 Followers The term is class. of any religious sects other than Buddhism. sometimes used in a contemptuous sense, like heathen by Christians. INTRODUCTION The Bodhisattva that is 9 of Buddhists who, class believing in the Bodhi (intelligence or wisdom), which is a reflection of the Dharmakaya in the human soul, direct toward realising and their spiritual energy all for the sake of their fellow-creatures. it developing The Pratyekabuddha a "solitary thinker'' or a is who, retiring into solitude and calmly contemplating on the evanescence of worldly pleasures, philosopher, endeavors to attain own his salvation, but remains unconcerned with the sufferings of Religiously impassive, egotistic, of estimate u hearer" for he enables him to think independently by himself the way however, a pious heart, he to observe faithfully and rests inferior in and to find out to final salvation. Being endowed, to the instructions of the him, is Mahayanists even to the Pratyekadoes not possess any intellect that buddha, with fellow-beings. Pratyekabuddha is cold, and lacks love for all mankind. The Qravaka which means the his a considered, all fully is willing to listen Buddha, to believe in him, the moral precepts given contented within the by narrow horizon of his mediocre intellect. To a further elucidation of Bodhisattvahood and important bearings in the Mahayana Buddhism, we devote a special chapter below. For Mahayanism is its no more than the Buddhism of Bodhisattvas, while the Prayekabuddhas and the (Jravakas are considered by Mahayanists to be adherents of Hinayanism. I INTRODUCTION o The Mahayana Buddhism Defined. We to can now form a somewhat what the Mahayana Buddhism is. definite notion as It is the Buddhism which, inspired by a progressive spirit, broadened its as it did not contradict the original scope, so far inner significance of the teachings of the Buddha, and liefs which assimilated other religio-philosophical bewithin itself, whenever it felt that, by so doing, people of more widely different characters and lectual endowments could be saved. Let us be intel- we enter fied at into a with present more detailed peculiarities in the It may that the this statement, until exposition of satis- doctrinal its pages that follow. not be out of place, while passing, to remark term Mahayanism is used in this work form of Buddhism, merely which is flourishing in Ceylon and Burma and other central Asiatic nations, and whose literature is principally written in the language called Pali, which comes in contradistinction to that from the same stock as Sanskrit. The term "Mahayana" does not imply, as it is used here, any sense of superiority aspect of over the Hinayana. Mahayanism develop that its treated, its it the historical may naturally controversial and dogmat- phase at the sacrifice of must not think that its true spirit ; but the work has anything do with those complications. In fact, Mahayanism reader to When over-zealous and one-sided devotees unnecessarily emphasised ical is this professes to be a boundless ocean in which all form INTRODUCTION I I of thought and faith can find its congenial and welcome home; why then should we make it militate against own its 2. fellow -doctrine, Hinayanism? THE MAHAYANA BUDDHISM THE GENUINE TEACHING OF THE BUDDHA IS ? What by the is as scriptures known generally name Western nations to the Buddhism of is Hinayanism, above stated are written this language that and in Pali studied mostly in Ceylon, Burma, and Siam. through whose was It knowledge of Orientalists; and nat- the first Buddhism was acquired by urally they came to regard Hinayanism or Southern Buddhism Buddha. sist, edge as the They only insisted, genuine teachings and some of them of the still in- an adequate and thorough knowlBuddhism, they must confine themselves that to have of solely to the study of the Pali, that whatever may be learned from other sources, i. e., from the Sanskrit, Tibetan, or Chinese documents should be con- on the sidered as throwing only a side-light information obtained from the the knowledge certain cases rated form derived Pali, from the reliable and further that former should in be discarded as accounts of a degeneof Buddhism. Owing to these unfortu- nate hypotheses, the significance of Mahayanism as a living religion has been entirely ignored; and even who are regarded as best authorities on the those subject appear greatly misinformed and, what altogether prejudiced. is worse, 1 INTRODUCTION 2 No This Life Without Growth, very unfair on the part of the is cause what religion that has not is mankind ever, that has there is vitality be- the whole history of the same, course? like the granite, Let us ask whether any religion which has shown some signs of and yet retained its primitive form intact and unmodified ness, entire critics, made any development what- remained its throughout there in that is, in every respect. susceptibility to not changeableirritation the most Is of essential vitality? Every organism grows, sign which means a change in some way or other. There is no form of life to be found anywhere on earth, that does not grow or change, or that has not any inherent power of adjusting the surrounding itself to conditions. Take, for example, Christianity. Is Protestantism the genuine teaching of Jesus of Nazareth? or does Catholicism represent his true spirit? Jesus himself did not have any definite notion of Trinity doctrine, nor did he propose to the and his any suggestion for ritualism. Synoptics, appears to have cherished a rather immature conception of the kingdom of God than a purely ideal one as conceived According he who were just as illiterate philosophically as the master himself were by Paul, anxiously realisation tants, in waiting personal disciples in all probability for its mundane But what Christians, Catholics or Protesdays of enlightenment, would dare these INTRODUCTION 13 give a literal explanation to this material conception of the coming kingdom ? Again, think of Jesus's view on marriage and social Is it not an established fact that he highly advocated celibacy and in the case of married people life. strict continence, and also that he greatly favored pious poverty and asceticism respects, monks the these In in general? of the Medieval Ages and the Catholic priests of the present day (though I cannot say they are ascetic and poor in their living) must be said to be in more accord with the teaching of the master than their Protestant brethren. Protestants would seriously venture to But what defend all those views of Jesus, in spite of their avowed declaration that they are sincerely following in the steps of their Lord ? Taking all in all, these contradictions do not prevent them, Protestants as well as Catholics, from calling themselves Christians and even good, pious, devoted sciously spirit, or that Christians, as long as they are con- animated unconsciously was burning in the by the same son of the carpenter of Nazareth, an obscure village of Galilee, about two thousand years ago. The same mode of reasoning case of Mahayanism, and it would be absurd to on the genuineness of Hinayanism the former. Take for other what of it? at the insist expense of the that Mahayana some elements absorbed granted school of Buddhism contains from holds good in the Indian religio-philosophical systems; but Is not Christianity also an amalgama- INTRODUCTION. 14 of Jewish, Greek, tion, so to speak, Roman, Babylo- nian, Egyptian, and other pagan thoughts? In fact every healthy and energetic religion is historical, in the sense that, in the has adapted and has assimilated which appeared istence. course of the itself to its development, it ever-changing environment, itself various elements within at first even threatening own its ex- In Christianity, this process of assimilation, adaptation, and modification has been going on from its very beginning. As the result, we see in the of Christianity that metamor- original type so its concernoutward appearance nobody would now take it for a faithful phosed, so ed, to-day far as its is copy of the prototype. Mahayanism a Living Whatever changes So with Mahayanism. made during its central ideas are historical all Faith. evolution, those of its its founder. it has spirit and The ques- genuine, entirely depends on our interpretation of the term "genuine." If we take tion whether or not to it we mean the it is lifeless preservation of the original, should say that Mahayanism teaching of the Buddha, and is not the genuine we may add that Ma- hayanists would be proud of the fact, because being a living religious force it would never condescend to be the corpse of a by-gone ever faithfully preserved, are ganic substances from which The faith. fossils, how- nothing but rigid inorlife is forever departed. INTRODUCTION Mahayanism is faith and ready far from in all this ; 1 it is 5 an ever-growing times to cast off its old gar- ments as soon as they are worn out. But its spirit originally inspired by the "Teacher of Men and Gods" ($dstadevamanusyanam) is most jealously guarded against pollution and degeneration. Therefore, as far as its doubt a is spirit its genuineness complete survey significane of It concerned, there ; no room left to Buddhism cannot ignore the of Mahay an ism. naught but an is idle talk to question the histo- value of an organism, which rical is and those who desire to have is now of vital- full ity and like an archeological object, dug out from the depths of the active earth, in all its functions, and to ity is it or like a piece of bric-a-brac, discov- ered in the ruins of an ancient royal palace. nism treat Mahay a- not an object of historical curiosity. Its vitalin our daily life. It is a and activity concern us great organism its moral and 'religious forexercising an enormous power over mil- spiritual ces are still lions of souls; ; and its further development is sure to be a very valuable contribution to the world-progress of the religious consciousness. What does it matter, then, whether or not Mahayanism is the genuine teaching of the Buddha ? Here is an instance of most flagrant contradictions present in our minds, but of which we are not conscious on account of our preconceived ideas. Christian critics vigorously insist on the genuineness of their own religion, which is no more than a 1 6 INTRODUCTION. but they want to condemn denegerated, because it went hybrid, at least outwardly their rival through It is sical of as religion various ; of stages development like theirs. of no practical use to trouble with this nonsenthe question of the genuineness question, Mahay anism, which by the way is frequently raised by outsiders as well as by some unenlightened Buddhists themselves. 3. SOME MISSTATEMENTS ABOUT THE MAHAYANA DOCTRINES. Before this entering fully into the subject proper of work, let us glance over some erroneous opinions the Mahayana doctrines, which are held by some Western scholars, and naturally by all uninitiated readers, who are like the blind led by the blind. It may not be altogether a superfluous work them a passing review in this chapter and to. give to show broadly what Mahayanism is not. about Why Injustice is done to Buddhism. The people who have had their thoughts and sentrained by one particular set of timents habitually religious those them. dogmas, thoughts We frequently that may are call moral sentiments training goes point of ; view, but, they this class as the value of strange and unfamiliar to of people bigots or They may have religious enthusiasts. and misjudge far as their fine religious own when examined from are to religious a broader a great extent vitiated INTRODUCTION. with prejudices, 17 and superstitions, which, since childhood, have been fanatical beliefs, pumped into their receptive minds, before they were sufficiently developed and could form independent judgments. This so fact miserably spoils their purityof sentiment and obscures their transparency of that they are intellect, perceive and appreciate whatever is disqualified good and true and beautiful in the so-called heathen to This religions. is the main reason why those Chris- tian missionaries are incapable of rightly understand- ing the of religion spirit missionaries who come I generally mean, those to the East to substitute one set of superstitions for another. This strong general indictment against the Christian missionaries, however, is by no means prompted by any partisan spirit. My desire, on the contrary, is to do justice to those thoughts and sentiments that have been working consciously or unconsciously in the human mind from time immemorial and shall work on till the day of the last judgment, ever be such a day. sentiments are, To which, kernel of every religion, tance throw off cherish, though all of time. by the way, constitute the we must without any reluc- we unknowingly; most essential are liable and to keeping in the religious we must not confound it with its which are doomed to die in the course consciousness, accessories, is there see what these thoughts and the prejudices quite always in view what if 1 INTRODUCTION. 8 Examples of Injustice. As specimen of injustice done to the Mahayana Buddhism by Christian critics, we quote the following Wadpassages from Monier- William's Buddhism , Buddhism dell's in China, and Samuel Deal's Buddhism of which are representative works each all own in its in Tibet, field. Monier Monier- Williams. Monier-Williams Monier on Sanskrit ment and literature, a well- known authority is his works in this depart- long remain as a valuable contribution to human knowledge. But, unfortunately, as soon as will he attempts to enter the domain of religious controversy, his intellect becomes pitiously obscured by his He preconceived ideas. thinks, for instance, that of principal feature Mahayanism number of Bodhisattvas, who amplifying the with their tented, according to his view, residence in the desires off all (P. 190.) This remark are con- "perpetual and quite willing to put Buddhahood and Parinirvana." heavens, for is the consists merely in so absurd that it will at once be rejected by any one who has a first-hand knowledge of the Mahayana system, as even unworthy of refutation, but Monier-Williams takes give to his characterisation of the a show of rational he, "men explanation. instinctively recoiled special pains to Mahayana doctrine "Of course," says from utter self-annihi- INTRODUCTION. 1 and so the Buddha's followers ended lation, ging the true idea of Nirvana a condition beatitude of in non-existence celestial regions a into (!), chan- in and converting state 9 it from of lazy while they encour- men whether monks or laymen to make a sense of dreamy bliss in Heaven (!), and not total aged all extinction (P. of the life, end of all their efforts." 156.) This view of the Buddhist heaven as interpreted by Monier- Williams is nothing but the conception of the Christian heaven colored with paganism. Nothing is more foreign to Buddhists than this distinSankritist's guished of celestial exist- interpretation The life of devas much subject to the law of men on earth. What ence. (celestial beings) of birth is just as and death as that consolation would there be Mahayanists striving after the highest principle of existence, only to find themselves transmifor the grated to a celestial abode, rows and sufferings of their desire selves. ? that is also full of sor- Always working fellow-creatures, the for the welfare Bodhisattvas never for them- any earthly or heavenly happiness Whatever merits, according to the law of karma, there be stored up for their good work, they do not have any wish to enjoy them by themselves, they will have all these merits turned over but (parivarta) to the interests of their fellow-beings. This is the ideal of Bodhisattvas, i.e., of the followers of Mahayanism. 2O INTRODUCTION. Beat. Samuel Deal who to be an authority considered by Western scholars is on Chinese Buddhism, refering to * Mahayana conception of Dharmakaya, says in Buddhism in China (p. 156): "We can have little the his doubt, then, that from early days worship was offered by Buddhists presence at several consecrated spots, to an of the Teacher, invisible by the presence. This presence was formulated by the later Buddhists under the phrase, 'the Body of the Law', Dhar- makaya." Then, alluding Buddha's instruction that says to after his Parinirvana Law the given by him should be regarded as himself, Beal proceeds to say "Here was the germ from which proceeded the idea or formula of an invisible presence teaching and power : : of the or fit Law (Dharma) Law-Body represented Dharmakaya for reverence." To interpret Dharmakaya as the quite inadequate and misleading. is the of Buddha, present with the order, and nists, there is nothing beside Body of To the Law the Hinaya- the Tripitaka as the object of reverence, and, therefore, the notion of the Body 1 of the Law has no meaning to them. The conception of Dharmakaya constitutes The the idea central and the right compreThe Body of the Law, English, is not exact and leads point in the system of Mahayanism, hension of it is ot vital importance. as it is commonly rendered in frequently to a misconception of the entire system. is fully discussed below. The point INTRODUCTION. is Mahay^nistic, distinctly formed about tation, as "law", I Beal The judge, lies in his modes disappear," the transient understood by dkarma by rendering sists," or "that which maintains or "substance." not well in- chief reason of his misinterpre- dharma here means while is real significance as its the Buddhists. but 21 "that which sub- itself in even when short, all "being," Dharmakaya, therefore, would be a sort of the Absolute, or Essence-Body of all things. This notion plays such an important r61e in Mahayanism that an adequate knowledge of it is indispensable to understand the constitution of Mahayanism as a religious system. Waddell. Let us one more case of misrepresentation state by Western scholars of the Mahayana Buddhism. author of Waddell, to the Buddhism in Tibet, referring between the so-called of point divergence Northern Buddhism and the Southern, says (pp. 10 u): "It was the theistic Mahayana doctrine which morality agnostic idealism and Buddha, a speculative theistic the for substituted, of with a mysticism of sophistic nihilism in simple system the back- ground." And "This MaMyana [meaning NagSirjuna's MadhyatnikajschooJ] was essentially a sophistic rnnltism, or rather Parinirvana, while ceasing to be exagain tinction of : life, was converted a mystic admitted of no definition." state which INTRODUCTION. 22 may It not be wrong to call Mahayanism a specu- wide sense, but it must system be asked on what ground Waddell thinks that it has " in its background "a mysticism of sophistic nihilism in a theistic lative system be called sophistry when Could a religious makes a close inquiry in order to show how it the science of dialectics, into futile it to seek salvation is through the intellect alone? Could a religious system be called a nihilism when it endeavors to reach the which highest reality of concrete be individual transcends when called nihilistic the phenomenality existences it Could a doctrine ? the defines absolute as neither void (gunya) nor not-void (a$unya) ? some more passages from other BudWest and show how far Mahayanism has been made by them a subject of misrepresentation. But since this work is not a polemic, I could cull dhist scholars of the but devoted to a positive exposition of its basic docSuffice it to state trines, I refrain from so doing. that one of the main causes of the Buddhism by the Christian of preconceptions, but which all the which more critics they injustice comes from may vitiate done to their not be aware, their "impartial" judgments. 4. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF RELIGION. Those misconceptions about Buddhism stated induce and to say me as above to digress in this introductory part a few words concerning the distinction INTRODUCTION. between the form and the spirit 23 of religion. A clear knowledge of this distinction will greatly facilitate the formation of a correct notion about Mahayanism and also will us duly to appreciate help its significance as a living religious faith. By the spirit which of I religion mean that element in remains unchanged throughout its successive stages of development and transformation while the form of it is the external shell which is religion : subject to any modification required No Revealed It else and Religion. admits of no doubt that under the sun, that, religion, as everything subject to the laws of evolution, is there therefore, by circumstances. is no such thing as a revealed religion, whose teachings are supposed to have been delivered to us direct from the hands of an anthropomorphic or anthropopsychic supernatural being, and which- like an inorganic substance, remains forever the same, without changing, without growing, without modifying itself in accord with the surrounding conditions. Unless people are so blinded by a belief in this kind of religion as to have suffered its absolutely "revelation," they headed person the elements in distinguished dogmas must recognise like every clear- some ephemeral which must carefully be fact that there are every religion, from insist that its change whatever since no its quintessence which remains eternally the same. When this discrimination is not observed, prejudice 24 INTRODUCTION. at will once assert itself, inducing them to imagine were brought up with that the religion in which they its all religion and superstitions is the only orthodox the world, and all the other religions are truths in nothing else than heathenism, idolatry, atheism, apostasy, and the like. This attitude of such religionists, own narrowness insight. No one who however, serves only to betray their of mind and dimness of spiritual desires to penetrate into the innermost recesses of heart and who longs to feel the fullest of should foster in himself in the least life, meaning a disposition of bigotry. degree the human The Mystery. the is Religion inmost voice of the human heart under the yoke of a seemingly finite existence groans and travails in pain. Mankind, from their first that appearance on earth, have never been the and impermanency of finiteness satisfied with life. They have always been yearning after something that will liberate them from the slavery of this mortal coil, or from the cursed .thinkers account bondage express of separation its and it. metempsychosis, as Hindu This something, however, on of transcending all the principles of individuation, which characterise the this mundane existence, has always remained as something indefinite, inadequate, chaotic, and full of mystery. And, according to different phenomena of degrees and of intellectual development in different ages nations, people have endeavored to invest this INTRODUCTION. mysterious something with and all 25 sorts of Most of modern intelligence. human feelings scientists are now with the hypothesis that the mystery is unfathomable by the human mind, which is conditioned by the law of relativity, and that our business here, content moral as well as this doctrine is called agnosticism. of mystery; But the with this ever-haunting problem ourselves troubling can be executed without intellectual, hypothesis can in no wise be considered sentence passed on the mystery. From the this final point of view, the scientific maxim of agnosticism is excellent, as science does not pretend to venture into the realm presents of non-relativity. Dissatisfaction, however, when we attempt to silence by demand of the human heart. itself, this hypothesis the last and Imagination. Intellect The human When the the heart heart intellect still is displays and aches something beyond. The clare that has at it not an intellectual crystal. in its full glory, itself struggles intellect last laid its to get hold of may sometimes hand on what is de- demanded by the heart. Time passes on, and the mystery is examined from the other points that escaped consideration the before, heart, wanting. the The never gets to the great disappointment of supposed solution is found to be and, intellect tired satisfaction ever considered a of is its more baffled. But the human heart yearnings pressingly. and demands a Should they mere nightmare of imagination ? be Surely INTRODUCTION. 26 not, herein for the lies where field religion claims supreme authority, and its claim is perfectly right. But religion cannot fabricate whatever it pleases; it must work in perfect accord with the intellect. As or in intellect, man does of the essential nature not consist solely or feeling, but in the coordination will, of these psychical elements, religion must guard her- of imagination. Most of the superstitions fondly cherished by a pious heart are due to the disregard of the intellectual element self in unrestrained the against flight religion. The imagination creates the intellect discriminates. Creation without discrimination is wild discrimination : : without creation Religion and science, with mutual understanding, barren is when they do not work are sure be to normal growth finally enemy energy, are, in my activities as sympathy well with arrogant in its examination men must claim alone as either those of who see it with of science : for their all and distorted think that field of nature. them a natural who whole the I of soul- am not in is just as one claim as the other. Without a careful of both sides of a shield, to give a correct opinion competent But the imagination of religion, nor is of the entire system. opinion, as purblind in their view, as those science balance, and its denounce and makes an ab- soul religious enthusiasts science in The one point, loses to a collapse up given Those pious one-sided at is is we upon are not it. not the exclusive possession discrimination or ratiocination the INTRODUCTION. monopoly of science. plementary one : The other. difference tional, and the religion and probability. certitude and finite. phenomenon by some a The When is of particular facts, the and any further attempt to done, i. this, explains a given it fixed laws which are in turn generalisation task of science go beyond science solely concerned with things condi- is relative, nothing but without anything rather in their respective fields of acti- is Science vity. com- are reciprocal and do difference between not that between is They cannot 2? to e., make an inquiry into the whence, whither, and why of things, is beyond its realm. But the human soul does not remain satisfied here, so-called all lying Science asks for the ultimate principle under- it is laws scientific mechanical explanation of them appeases tual curiosity. But mount importance, but a is of para- one of the most fundamental or does outside religion if there is something manifold laws and theories not care its ; which does anything corresponding to fails a and a Science, again, beyond teleology religion is : its intellec- system which does not give any conception on this point is no religion. problems, definite in it hypotheses. teleology of things the to indifferent and it, not possess a God ceases to be so, for to give consolation to the human or it heart The Contents of Faith vary. The fall solution of religious problems, within the sphere of relative as far as they experience, is large- INTRODUCTION. 28 a ly matter of determined by personal conviction, one's intellectual development, external circumstances, education, disposition, etc. thus formulated are The conceptions of naturally infinitely faith diversified; even among the followers of a certain definite set of dogmas, each will understand them in his own way, owing to individual their conceptions of faith chemist does his materials, we If peculiarities. to a strict we could subject analysis as a should detect in them the possible forms of differentiation. But all these things belong to the exterior of religion and have all nothing to do with the essentials which underlie them. The abiding elements of religion come from within, and consist mainly lies and hidden in the in the mysterious sentiment that deepest depths of the when awakened, shakes that, of personality revolution, and brings which results one's world-conception. about in a When human heart, the whole structure a great spiritual complete change of this mysterious sen- timent finds expression and formulates its conceptions in the terms of intellect, it becomes a definite system which is popularly called religion, but should which properly be termed dogmatism, that is, an intellectualised form of religion. On the other of beliefs, hand, the outward forms of religion consist of those changing elements that are mainly determined by the intellectual and well as individual esthetical feelings. True by moral and development of the times as enlightened Buddhists may, therefore, find their point of agreement in the recogChristians INTRODUCTION. 29 of the inmost religious sentiment nition that consti- tutes the basis of our being, though this agreement does by no means prevent them from retaining their individuality in the conceptions and expressions of My faith. Christ conviction is their changed If : Gautama might have been Jewish propounding the doctrine and Dharmakaya. However great a an echo of the places of birth, a Christ rising against the and Jesus traditionalism, Buddha and the the accidental of a Buddha, perhaps non-ego and Nirvana man may be, he cannot but spirit of the times. He be never stands, supposed by some, so aloof and towering above the masses as to be practically by himself. On the as is contrary, "he," as Emerson river of the thoughts ideas says, "finds himself in the and events, forced onward by the his contemporaries." So it was and necessities of with the Buddha, and so with the Christ. They were nothing but the concrete representatives of the ideas and feelings that were struggling in those times against the established institutions, which were degenerating fast and menaced the progress of humanity. But at the same time those outburst of the ideas Eternal and Soul, sentiments were the which makes a solemn announcement of its occasionally will, through great historical figures or through great worldevents. Believing sition as that a bit of religio-philosophical expowill prepare the minds of above indulged INTRODUCTION. 3O my Christian readers sincerely to of a religious proceed to system a yana Buddhism, Far East. take up the study other than their own, systematical elucidation of the as it is I now Maha- believed at present in the CHAPTER I. A GENERAL CHARACTERISATION OF BUDDHISM, No God and no OUDDHISM considered by some to be a religion without a God and without a soul. The state- *^ ment we Soul. is true is and untrue according to what meaning give to those terms. Buddhism does not recognise the existence of a being, who stands aloof from his ''creations," and who meddles human occasionally with affairs when will pleases him. This conception of a supreme being is very offensive to Buddhists They are unable to perceive any truth in the hypotheses, his capricious that a being like ourselves created the of nothing and first it universe out with a pair of sentient peopled beings owing to a crime commited by them, which, however, could have been avoided if the cre; ator so that, desired, eternal damnation feeling pity remorse for only beloved ; were for the cursed, his condemned by him to meantime that the creator in the or suffering the bite of somewhat rash deed, despatched son to the earth for his the purpose of mankind from universal misery, etc., etc. Buddhism is called atheism on account of its rescuing If they CHAPTER 32 refusal take to I. poetry for actual fact, followers its would have no objection to the designation. if Next, we understand by secretly hiding itself behind them all soul mental atman, which, activities, direct an organist striking different notes as he pleases, Buddhists outspokenly deny the existence of such a fabulous being. To postulate an after the fashion of independent atman outside a combination of the five 1 of which an individual being is supposed Skandhas , by Buddhists to with egoism consist, its all distinguishes emphatically from non-atman of postulate most of to unreservedly pernicious corollaries. Buddhism of is all most other religions us let these Buddhism Dharmakaya, common points as property notion general will also Karma, Atman, Avidya, Nirvana, of these doctrines being the of the two schools of Buddhism, here about will furnish the constitution of Buddhism, Mahayana doctrine which (5) follows. form or materiality (rupa} (2) sensation deeds (samkard), consciousness (vijndna). These terms are explained They are: (i) (vedana), (3) conception (samjna), (4) action or and comprehen- brief, our readers with a prepare them to pursue a further specific exposition of the 1 general way, such principal Some etc. exposition Buddhism soul. in a clearer Hinayanism and Mahayanism, their and the doctrine non-ego, exactly opposite to the a soul-substance which is cherished by briefly treat in this chapter of tenets of sive is and or religious enthusiasts. In this sense, To make And what characteristically undoubtedly a religion without the is welcome elsewhere. } CHAPTER 33 I. Karma. One of the most fundamental doctrines established by Buddha that is in nothing world this comes from a single cause, that the existence of a universe is the result of a combination of several causes and conditions (hetu) same time an duction of active an effect (pratyaya), and is at the force contributing to the proin As the future. far as phe- nomenal existences are concerned, this law of cause and effect holds universally valid. Nothing, even God, can interfere with the course of things thus regulated, materially as well as morally. If a God really exists and has some concern about our worldly affairs, he must first conform himself to the law of causation. Because the principle of karma, which is the Buddhist term for causation morally conceived, holds supreme everywhere and all the time. The conception role in ciple Buddhist of the of karma plays the most important ethics. universe. Karma is the formative prin- determines the course of It events and the destiny of our existence. The reason why we cannot change our present state of things as we may will, is that it has already been determined by the karma that was performed in our previous lives, only individually but collectively. But, for this same reason, we shall be able to work out our not destiny in the future, which is nothing but the resultant of several factors that are working worked by ourselves in this and that are being life. 3 CHAPTER 34 Buddha Therefore, says I. : "By self alone is evil done, By self is one disgraced; By self is evil left undone, By self alone is he purified; Purity and impurity belong to No one can purify another." 1 self: Again, "Not in the sky Nor in the midst of the sea, Nor entering a cleft of the mountains, Is found that realm on earth Where one may stand and be From an evil deed absolved." 2 This doctrine karma may be regarded of as an application in our ethical realm of the theory of the conservation of energy. Everything done is done once for all; its footprints on the sand of our moral and social evolution are forever left they are further generative, development good or under ; more than nay, evil, left, and waiting favorable for conditions. In the physical world, even the slightest possible movement of our limbs cannot but affect the general cosmic motion of the earth, however infinitesimal it be; and if we had a proper instrument, we could surely measure with with 1 precise our deeds. its leaving 2 its A extent of effect. So is deed it even once performed, together subjective motives, can never vanish without some impressions either on the individual The Dhammapada, The Dhammapada, v. 165. Tr. v. 127. by A. J. Edmunds. CHAPTER or on consciousness I. 35 the supra-individual, i. social e., consciousness. We need not further karma in our In its state that the conception of general aspect and material moral relativity rules is scientifically verified life, where the law of supreme, the doctrine of karma must be considered thoroughly valid. And as long as its validity is admitted in this field, we can live our without resorting to the hypothesis of as declared by Lamarck when his phenomenal life a God, personal significant work on evolution was presented to Emperor Napoleon. But nate it will do injustice to Buddhism if we desig- agnosticism or naturalism, denying or ignoring the existence of the ultimate, unifying principle, in which all contradictions are obliterated. Dharmakaya it name given by Buddhists to this highest principle, viewed not only from the philosophical but also is the from the religious standpoint. In the Dharmakaya, Buddhists find the ultimate significance of life, which, when seen from its phenomenal aspect, cannot escape the bondage of karma and its irrefragable laws. Avidyd. What claims our attention next, is the problem of most of the essential features is one which nescience, of Buddhism. Buddhists think, nescience (in Sans- avidya) is the subjective aspect of karma, involvRebirth, considered ing us in a series of rebirths. by itself, is no moral evil, but rather a necessary krit CHAPTER 36 I. condition of progress toward perfection, ever be attainable is the here. It an is outcome of ignorance, evil if perfection when only it ignorance as to the meaning of our earthly existence. true Ignorant are they who do not recognise the evanescence of wordly things and who tenaciously cleave them to as shun the misery who realities final savagely the to struggle about by their own brought cling who madly ; self the against to folly will ; of who take particulars God, as Christians would say as final existences and ignore one pervading reality which underlies them all who build up an adaman; ; tine wall between the mine and thine ignorant are those no such thing is idual existences makaya. in a : who do not understand as an ego-soul, are unified in Buddhism, word, that there and that all indiv- the system of Dhar- therefore, most emphatically maintains that to attain the bliss of Nirvana we must radically dispel this illusion, this ignorance, this root of all The evil and suffering in this life. dotrine of nescience or ignorance is technically expressed following formula, which is commonly called the Twelve Nidanas or Pratyayasamutthe in pada, that ( (2) is There to say Chains of Dependence: Ignorance (avidya) in the beginning from Ignorance Action (sanskara) comes forth i ) is ; ; comes forth (3) from Action Consciousness (vijndna) (4) from Consciousness Name-and-Form (namarupa) comes forth; (5) from Name-and-Form the Six Organs ; (sadayatana) come forth ; (6) from the Six Organs CHAPTER Touch comes (sparga) comes tion (vedana) comes I. forth; forth (7) (8) ; 37 from Touch Sensa- from Sensation Desire from Desire Clinging (upacomes from forth; (10) dana] Clinging Being (bhdva) comes forth; (11) from Being Birth (jati) comes forth; and (12) from Birth Pain (duhkhd) comes (trsna) forth (9) ; forth. According to formula is previous we Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakoga, the Being ignorant in our as to the significance of our existence, explained as follows life : our desires and act wantonly. Owing to this karma, we are destined in the present life to be endowed with consciousness (yijndna), name-andlet loose form (namarupd), the six organs of sense (sadayatand), and sensation (vedana). By the exercise of these faculties, to, we now desire for, hanker after, cling these illusive existences reality whatever. Live" we karma that which have no ultimate of this In consequence potentially accumulate or will "Will to make up the us to further metempsychosis lead of birth and death. The formula exhaustive, but is by no means logical, fundamental notion the nor is that it life started in ignorance or blind will remains veritable. Non-Atman. The problem doctrine usually of nescience known naturally as that of non-ego, to which allusion leads to the non-Atman, was made i. e., at the beginning CHAPTER 38 This of this chapter. Its thesis Christian scholars. as thing And is this is the of runs Buddhism much criticism There : one is is by no such according to the vulgar agent of our mental activities. which, ego-soul, interpretation, doctrine have caused that of the subjects I. the reason why Buddhism is sometimes called a religion without the soul, as aforesaid. This Buddhist negation of the ego-soul startling to the people, who, is perhaps no speculative having power, blindly accept the traditional, materialistic view of the soul. They think, they are very spiritual in endorsing the dualism of soul and flesh, and in making the soul something like a corporeal entity, though far more ethereal than an ordinary object of the senses. in the form an of of the soul as being more angel, when they teach that it think They ascends to heaven immediately after the material imprisonment. They in the liberty, not being able The immortality after the from the its body, groans in pain for its to bear its mundane limitaof the soul is a continuation dismemberment of material elements of this ethereal, astral, ghost-like entity, bling release further imagine that the soul, because of imprisonment tions. its Samkhyan Lingham very much resem- or the Vedantic su- will not a whit ksama-fartra. suffer in its continued activity, as it is the essential function of the soul. Brothers and sisters, parents Self-consciousness and sons and daughters, wives aud husbands, all transfigured and sublimated, will meet again in the CHAPTER 39 I. abode, and perpetuate their celestial manner of after the much People who home their earthly one. life and its immortality must disappointment or even resentment, when they are asked to recognise the Buddhist theory of non-atman. take this view of the soul feel a great The absurdity of astral existence taught to the confusion of the ponding to it. The by some theosophists name and the object soul, according to the vulgar given to a certain to the soul a sort of ascribing or notion, coordination what is the ego, is due corres- tantamount a is name of mental activities. Abstract names are invented by us to economise our intellectual labors, and of course have no correspondas ing realities objective history world. of the particular presences in the concrete Vulgar minds have forgotten the formation of abstract names. Being accustomed always to find certain objective or concrete individuals those realities answering to certain names, imagine that all names, irrespective of their nature, must have their concrete Their individual equivalents in the sensual world. they idealism na'ive realists or spiritualism, so called, form of materialism, is in spite of their for the latter as atheistic in fact a gross unfounded and even immoral ; fear curse of ignorance! The non-atman theory does not deny that there is a coordination or unification of various mental operations. Buddhism vijnana, not atman. calls this Vijnana system of coordination is consciousness, while CHAPTER 4O atman the is I. ego conceived as a concrete entity, a hypostatic agent which, abiding in the deepest recess of the mind, directs to its own all subjective activities according This view discretion. is radically rejected by Buddhism. A familiar analogy illustrating the doctrine of non- atrnan Wheel is is the notion of a wheel or that of a house. name given the to a combination in a fixed form of the spokes, axle, tire, hub, rim, is that given to a combination of roofs, dows, walls, floors, for a certain to be found? House a certain designating Now, where take house win- model and these parts the house or the wheel is merely the name which parts are sys- or wheel form all ; pillars, after a certain etc., purpose. independently, and etc. in is What an absurdtematically and definitely disposed. on the independent it must be to insist ity, then, existence of the wheel or of the house as an agent behind the combination of certain parts thus ly definite- arranged is wonderful that Buddhism clearly anticipated the ! It outcome of modern psychological researches at the time when all other religious and philosophical systems were eagerly concerning the cherishing dogmatic superstitions nature of the ego. The refusal of modern psychology to have soul than the sum-total of all mean anything more mental experiences, such as sensations, ideas, feelings, decisions, etc., precisely the Buddhist doctrine of non-atman. a rehearsal It does not deny that there of is is a unity of consciousness, CHAPTER for to but deny this is to refuses it to and unconditioned, doubt our everyday experiences, assert that this unity independent. phase of existence, phenomenal 41 I is is absolute, Everything in this a combination of and conditions (pratyaya) brought together according to the principle of karma; and everything that is compound is finite and subject to certain causes (hetu) dissolution, and, therefore, always limited else. Even the goes, is the to is of as far as soul-life, no exception to its by something phenomenality this universal law. To maintain existence of a soul-substance which is supposed hidden behind the phenomena of consciousness, not only misleading, but harmful and productive lie some morally dangerous that there is makes us result conclusions. something where there The is supposition really nothing, cling to this chimerical form, with no other subjecting ourselves to an eternal series than of sufferings. So we read in the Lankavatara Sutra, "A flower in the air, or a hare with Or a pregnant maid of stone: To take what is not for what is, Tis called a judgment false. "In a combination of causes, The vulgar seek the reality of As truth they understand From III : horns, self. not, birth to birth they transmigrate." The Non-Atman-ness of Things. Mahayanism has gone a step yamsm in the atman, for it further than Hina- development of the doctrine of nonexpressly disavows, besides the denial CHAPTER 42 existence of the the of conception of things, i. e., I. ego-substance, a noumenal the conception of particu- having something absolute in them. lars as Hinaya- nism, indeed, also disfavors this conception of thinginess, but it does so only implicitly. It is Mahayanism that definitely insists on the non-existence of a personal (pudgala) as well as a thingish (dharma) ego. According to the vulgar view, particular existences are real, they have permanent substantial entities, forever remaining as such. that organic matter remains much matter as inorganic are as they essentially They therefore, remains inorganic ; that, no mutual different, there is The human between them. transformation think, forever organic just as soul is from that of the lower animals and sentient different beings from non-sentient beings the difference being well-defined and permanent, there is no bridge over ; We which one can cross to the other. may call this view naturalistic egoism. Mahayanism, against world, extends \ lying outside ducible its us. reality conception of the theory of non-atman to the realm It in this egoistic maintains that there existences, particular they are combinations of several causes tions brought together by the is that as made dissolve, ditions its force is principle of karma. by karma. exhausted, the conditions their existence possible lose efficience and in their places and existences. irre- and condi- are here because they are sustained Things As soon no so long as will Therefore, and follow other con- what is organic CHAPTER to-day, may be 43 I. inorganic to-morrow, and vice versa. which is stored within the earth Carbon, appears in the form of coal or graphite or diamond but that which exists on its surface is found somefor instance, ; times combined with other elements in the form of an animal or a vegetable, sometimes in its free elementary state. It is the same carbon everywhere ; becomes inorganic or karma, it has no atman it transformation by transformation is its organic, in itself according its which directs own self-determining everywhere to there observable; its Mutual will. is a constant shifting of forces, an eternal transmigration of the elements, all of which tend to show the and non-atman-ness of individual ex- transitoriness The istences. nothing in it universe is moving like a whirl-wind, proving to be stationary, rigidly adhering to its own form nothing in it of existence. Suppose, on the other hand, there were an atman behind every particular being; suppose, too, it were absolute and permanent and self-acting and this ; phenomenal world would then come to a standstill, and life be forever gone. For is not changeability the most essential feature and condition of also the strongest evidence The recognise this universal fact of servation of energy and and and for the non-existence of individual things as realities? in its positive aspect life, call of physical sciences mutual transformation it the law of the con- matter. Mahay anism, recognising its negative side, proposes the doctrine of the non-atman-ness of things, that is to say, the CHAPTER 44 I. impermanency of all particular existences. Therefore, it is said, "Sarvam anityam, sarvam gunyam, sarvam \ anatman" is (All is all transitory, void, with- all is out ego.) Mahayanists condemn the vulgar view that denies the consubstantiality and reciprocal transformation of all beings, not only because but able, mainly because, is it scientifically unten- and religiously ethically considered, fraught with extremely dangerous ideas which finally may lead a "brother to ideas, is it the brother to death and the father the deliver up child," and, again, it may constrain "the children to rise up against their parents put to Why? death." and cause them to be Because this born of view, would dry up the well of human love and sympathy, and transform us into creatures of bestial egoism, selfishness ; because this view is not capable of inspiring of mutuality and commiseration and of making us disinterestedly feel for our fellowbeings. Then, all fine religious and humane sentiments us with the sense would depart from our less than blood rigid, running. and we should be nothing corpses, no pulse beating, no hearts, lifeless And how many victims are offered day on this altar of egoism They are not necessarily immoral by nature, but blindly led by the false conception of life and the world, they have been every ! rendered incapable of seeing their in their neighbors. Being ever sensual nature, impulses, they own controlled sin against and against themselves. spiritual doubles by their humanity, against CHAPTER We read (Nanjo, no. the in 196) Mahayana-abhisamaya Sutra : "Empty and calm and devoid Is 45 I. the nature of all of ego things no individual being There is That in reality : exists. "Nor end nor beginning having Nor any middle course, All is a sham, here's no reality whatever: It is like unto a vision and a dream. unto clouds and lightning, unto gossamer or bubbles floating like unto fiery revolving wheel, "It is like It is like It is It is like unto water-splashing. "Because of causes and conditions things are here: them there's no self-nature [i. e., atman] All things that move and work, In : Know them as such. "Ignorance and thirsty desire, The source of birth and death they are: Right contemplation and discipline by heart, Desire and ignorance obliterate. "All beings in the world, Beyond words they are and expressions: Their ultimate nature, pure and true, Is like unto vacuity of space." l The Dharmakaya. The Dharmakaya, which system of being," is, literally means "body or according to the Mahayanists, 1 This last passage should not be understood in the sense of a total abnegation of existence. It means simply the transcendentality of the highest principle. CHAPTER 46 I. the ultimate reality that underlies nomena; universe; the is it individuals that possible is it course ; the which norm of is d'etre of the being, which regulates events and thoughts. of of Dharmakaya particular phe- raison the is it all makes the existence of peculiarly The conception for the Mahayanistic, Hinayana school did not go so far as to formulate the ultimate principle of the universe; its adherents stopped short at a positivistic interpretation of Buddhism. The Dharmakaya remained for them to be the Body of embodied Law, or the Buddha's personality the as taught by him. The Dharmakaya may be compared in one sense to the God of Christianity and in another sense to the in the truth Brahman or Paramatman of Vedantism. It is different, however, from the former in that it does not stand transcendentally above the universe, which, according to the Christian view, was created by God, but which is, according to Mahayanism, a manifestation of the Dharmakaya from Brahman in that it nor is it a mere being. contrary, is himself. It is also different not absolutely impersonal, is The Dharmakaya, on the capable of willing and reflecting, or, to phraseology, it is Karuna (love) and Bodhi (intelligence), and not the mere state of being. use Buddhist This pantheistic Dharmakaya sentient of the is and the same time entheistic every sentient being, for nothing but a self-manifestation working beings are at Dharmakaya. existences, as imagined in Individuals are by most people. not isolated If isolated, CHAPTER are they they are so after another nothing, which vanish 47 I. one many soap-bubbles the in vacuity of space. All particular existences acquire their only when they are The the Dharmakaya. ignorance perceiving more all a reflection of the so is subjective or intellect, Dharmakaya enlightened, fully we no build the artificial barrier of egoism before our is eye ; the distinction between the obliterated, ; you recognise yourself "What What Who From This spiritual state is is me in tvam tat ; asi. Or, here, that is there; there, that is here : of the and love A ego. now spontaneously or, ego, which flow ' may be of enlightenment ideal annihilation of the of sympathy recognise myself in you and I sees duality here, death to death goes he." expansion meum and no dualism throws the nets of entanglement over us will e., when our Bodhi one. But by the way human mind, spiritual teum i. temporally throw an obstacle to our the universal light of Dharmakaya, in is in the of Maya, may which we are which veil meaning of in their oneness in thought is called the negatively, the never-drying stream of religion of the fountain- the out life head of Dharmakaya. The no doctrine of non-ego reality in individual teaches us that there existences, that is we do not have any transcendental entity called ego-substance. 7he Kathopanisad, IV. 10. t- CHAPTER 48 The of doctrine Dharmakaya, to all are one we us that teaches Being and shows us supplement this, the System of such are immortal. The one as only the I. of clinging folly in to individual exist- ences and of coveting the immortality of the egosoul; the other convinces us of the truth that we are saved The by the into living unity of non-atrnan doctrine of Dharmakaya. us liberates from the shackle of unfounded egoism but as mere liberation does not mean anything positive and may perchance ; us lead to we apply asceticism, the energy thus released to the execution of the will of Dharmakaya. The questions : bors as ourselves? "Why Why have we to love our neighhave we to do to others all things whatsoever we would that they should do to us?" are answered thus by Buddhists: "It is because we are one all Dharmakaya, because when the in the clouds of ignorance and egoism are totally dispersed, the light of universal love and intelligence cannot but help shine in we do this glory, we all its And, enveloped glory. in any enemy, nor neighbor, we are one in not. see are not even conscious of whether the Dharmakaya. There is no but will' here, 'my only 'thy will,' the will of Dharmakaya, in which and move and have our being." The Apostle Paul says "For as we live in Adam be made alive." : even so in Buddhists his egoism tree of Christ shall all would answer, "because in giving knowledge is himself in truth up Adam all die, Why ? asserted to ignorance, (the the tree of ignorance, CHAPTER from for it 49 I. comes the duality of me and thee) while ; Christ on the contrary surrendered his egoistic assertion to the intelligence of the universal That why we is die the in Dharmakaya. former and are made alive in the latter." Nirvana. The meaning been variously interpreted by non-Buddhist students from the philological and the historical standpoint but it matters little of Nirvana has ; what conclusions they have reached, as we are not nor do they at all going to recapitulate them here ; our presentation of the Buddhists' own view as below. For it is the latter that concerns us here most affect and constitutes the all-important part of the problem We have had too much of non-Buddhist speculation on the question while claiming The majority at issue. to be fair and of the impartial, critics, have, by some preconceived ideas, which acceptable to intelligent Buddhists. is not at all Further, the fact has literature of the escaped from which they mation on the many subject sects of the Master and been led to a conclusion, that their notice that Pali chiefly represents derive their infor- the views of one arose soon after the demise were constantly branching off at time of King Agoka. The probability Buddha himself did not have any stereotyped conception of Nirvana, and, as most great minds do, and is, after the that expressed his ideas outright as formed under various circumstances though of course they could not be ; 4 CHAPTER 5O in contradiction I. with his central beliefs, which must have remained the same throughout the course of his religious life. Therefore, to understand a problem in all its apparently contradictory aspects, it is very necessary to grasp at the start the spirit of the author of the problem, and when this is done the rest will be understood comparatively much easier. Non-Buddhist ification therefore, ; themselves most important qual- critics lack in this are it no wonder is always reluctant Buddhists that to accede to their interpretations. for apology. Nirvana, according to Budannihilation of consciousdoes not an dhists, signify ness nor a temporal or permanent suppression of Enough mentation as ', imagined by some; but it is the 1 Guyau, a French sociologist, refers to the Buddhist conI take ception of Nirvana in his Non-Religion of the Future his interpretation as typical of those non-Buddhist critics who are very little acquainted with the subject but pretend know much. (English translation, pp 472 474.) to "Granted the wretchedness of mists is propose the new Buddhists are to make fashionable. of Nirvana. To sever all the ties external world the life, . remedy that pessi- modern The conception is that salvation that religious . which attach you to the to prune away all the young offshoots of recognise that to be rid of them is a deliverance ; ; desire, and to practise a sort of complete psychial circumcision; to recoil upon yourself and to believe that by so doing you enter into the society of the great totality of would say, of God); to create an inner things (the mystic vacuum, and to feel dizzy in the void and, nevertheless, to believe that the void is plenitude supreme, pleroma, these have always constituted Mankind has been tempted to temptations to mankind. meddle with them, as it has been tempted to creep up to of the notion of ego-substance and of the desires that arise from this erroneous concep- annihilation all tion. But doctrine, this and negative side of the the represents its positive side consists in universal love or sympathy (karund) for all beings. These two aspects of Nirvana, i. e., negatively, the destruction of evil passions, and, positively, the of sympathy, are complementary to each when we have one we have the other. and other; Because, as soon as the heart is freed from the practice cangue of egoism, the same heart, hitherto so cold and hard, undergoes a complete change, shows animation, and, joyously escaping from self -imprisonment, finds its this freedom latter sense, Dharmakaya, earth as it that is in in the bosom of Dharmakaya. Nirvana is to is say, heaven." In the "humanisation" of "God's If will done we make use of in the the verge of dizzy precipices and look over . . . Nirvana leads, in fact, to the annihilation of the individual and of the race, and to the logical absurdity that the vanquished are the vic" and miseries of life author recites the case of one of his acquaintances, who made a practical experiment of Nirvana, rejecting variety in his diet, giving up meat, wine, every kind of ragout, every form of condiment, and reducing to its lowest possible terms the desire that is most fundamental in every living being the desire of food, and substituting a certain number of cups of pure milk. "Having thus blunted his sense of tors over the trials Then, the and the grosser of his appetites, having abandoned all physical activity, he thought to find a recompense in the pleasure of abstract meditation and of esthetic contemplation. He entered to a state which was not that of dreamland, but neither was it that of real life, with its definite details." taste CHAPTER $2 I. terms, subjective and objective. Nirvana is the former, and the Dharmakaya is the latter, phase of one and the same principle. Again, psychologically, Nirvana enlightenment, the actualisation of the Bodhicitta* (Heart of Intelligence). is The may gospel of love and the doctrine of Nirvana appear to some to contradict each other, for they think that the former and the latter while activity, ascetic quietism. tional aspect the source of energy a lifeless, inhuman, is is But the truth and Nirvana the That Nirvana plainly shown To is is the emo- intellectual aspect the inmost religious consciousness the essence of the Buddhist life. is love is, of which constitutes the destruction of selfish desires in this stanza : the giver merit is increased; the senses are controlled anger arises not. wise forsake evil, When The By the A man The destruction of desire, sin, and infatuation, attains to Nirvana.'" following which was breathed forth by Buddha when against a certain class of monks, testifies that Nirvana is understood in the sense of quietism or pessimism, he vigorously repudiated it: "Fearing an endless chain of birth and death, And the misery of transmigration, Their heart is filled with worry, Bnt they desire their safety only. 1 * For detailed explanation of The Strong Udana, Ch. VIII, p. this 118. term see Chapter XL Translation by General CHAPTER I. 53 "Quietly sitting and reckoning the breaths,They're bent on the Anapanam. * They contemplate on the filthiness of the body, Thinking how impure it is! -They shun the dust of the And triple world, in ascetic practise their safety they seek: Incapable of love and sympathy are they, For on Nirvana abides their thought." * Against Buddha this ascetic sets forth the Buddhist "Arouse thy life will, some monks, the practise of what might be called the ideal of : supreme and great, Practise love and sympathy, give joy and protection Thy love like unto space, Be ; without discrimination, without limitation. it Merits establish, not for thy But for charity universal Save and deliver all beings, own sake, ; Let them attain the wisdom of the Great Way." apparent that the ethical application of the doctrine of Nirvana is naught else than the Golden It 1 is a peculiarly Indian religious practice, which concounting one's exhaling and inhaling breaths. When a This sists in is man is intensely bent on the practise, he gradually passes to a state of trance, forgetting everything that is going on around and within himself. The practise may have the merit of alleviating nervousness and giving to the mind the bliss of relaxation, but it oftentimes leads the mind to a self-hypnotic state. 2 Here Nirvana is evidently understood to mean self-abnegation or world-flight or quietism, which is not in accord with the true Buddhist interpretation of the term. CHAPTER 54 Rule, 1 I. The Golden Rule, however, does why we should so act, it is a so called. not give any reason mere command whose authority tain This superhuman being. intellectually disposed is ascribed to a cer- does not satisfy an mind, which refuses to accept anything on mere authority, for it wants to go to the bottom of things and see on what ground they Buddhism has solved are standing. this problem by oneness of things in Dharmakaya, from which flows the eternal stream of love and symAs we have seen before, when the cursed pathy. barrier of egoism is broken down, there remains finding the nothing that can prevent us from loving others as ourselves. Those who wish to see nothing but an utter bar- renness of heart after the annihilation of egoism, are much mistaken in their estimation of human nature. For they think and that all animation comes from selfishness, its forms of activity simply by the desire They, therefore, teaches that that there 1 our life to preserve self naturally are propelled and the race. shrink from the doctrine worldly are empty, and no such thing as ego -substance whose that is in all things The sentiment of the Golden Rule is not the monopoly of has been expressed by most of the leaders of thought, thus, for instance ''Requite hatred with virtue" "Do (Lao-tze). "Hate is only appeased by love" (Buddha). not do to others what ye would not have done to you by others" (Confucius). "One must neither return evil, nor do Christianity ; it : an* evil to from them" any one among men, not even (Plato, Crito, 49). if one has to suffer CHAPTER is immortality the truth idea of so much coveted by most the is, but in self, 55 I. people. But spring of love does not lie in the its removal. For the human heart, being a reflection of the Dharmakaya which is love and intelligence, recovers its intrinsic power and good- when the veil of ignorance and egoism is The animation, energy, strenuousness, which were shown by a self-centered will, and which ness, only cast aside. therefore were utterly desplicable, will not surely die out with the removal of their odious atmosphere in egoism had enveloped them. But they will an ever nobler interpretation, ever more elevating gain and satisfying significance; for they have gone through a baptism of fire, by which the last trace of egoism which has been thoroughly consumed The old evil master servants are still is eternally buried, but the willing here and ever ready efficiently, to new for their do their service, now more legitimate and more autho- ritative lord. Destruction is in common parlance closely associ- ated with nothingness, hence Nirvana, the destruction of egoism, is ordinarily understood as a synonym of But the removal of darkness does not bring desolation, but means enlightenment and order and nihilism. peace. left It is there as goblins the it was same chamber, before. walked wild; in the furniture is In darkness chaos reigned, enlightenment everything is did we not state plainly that proper place. And Nirvana was enlightenment? in its all CHAPTER 56 The One Tendency of Buddhism. thing which in this connection I wish to refer what makes Buddhism appear somehow cold is to, Intellectual I. and impassive. By The this I mean fact is that anything savors of philosophy. its intellectuality. coming from India greatly In ancient India everybody of the higher castes seems to have indulged in intellectual and speculative exercises. Being rich in natural and thus the struggle for existence being resources reduced to a minimum, the Brahmans and the Ksatriyas gathered themselves under most luxuriously growing mountain-grottoes undisturbed the world, and there they by hurly-burly devoted all their leisure hours to metaphysical specu- trees, or retired to the of the and discussions. Buddhism, as a product of these people, is naturally deeply imbued with intellations lectualism. Further, in India there was no distinction between religion was at and philosophy. Every philosophical system same time a religion, and vice versa. the Philosophy with the Hindus was not an idle display of logical subtlety which generally ends in entangling itself in the meshes of sophistry. Their aim of philos- ophising was to have an significance of existence They did intellectual insight into the and the destiny of humanity. not believe in anything blindly nor accept anything on mere tradition. Buddha most character- echoes this sentiment when he says, 'Follow teachings not as taught by a Buddha, but as ' istically my CHAPTER I. 57 being in accord with truth." This and self- became salvation later Even when Buddha was still spirit of self-reliance singularly Buddhistic. merely an enthusiastic aspirant for Nirvana, he seems to have been strongly of this possessed declared the the to spirit, in response of his father's persuation ministers, who wanted him be settled to to come home with them: "The whether there doubt for most emphatically he famous passage, following pathetic for exists anything or not, me by will It it. not another's words. Arriving at the truth either by mortification or I is by tranquilisation, grasp myself whatever is ascertainable about is not mine to receive a view which is full of uncertainties, conflicts, and contradictions. men would go by enlightened other's faith? What The multitudes are like the blind led in the darkness by the blind." * To say simply, "Love your enemy," was not satisfactory to the Hindu mind, it wanted to see the reason why. And that before into a people were convinced intellectually, they went even so far as to defend the faith with their lives. It was not an uncommon event as a soon as party the of Hindu philosophers entered discussion they made an agreement that the penalty of defeats should be the sacrifice of the life. They were, above all, a people of intellect, though of course not lacking in religious sentiment. It is no wonder, then, that Buddha did not the 1 first make proclamation of his message by "Repent, for The Buddhacarita, Book IX, 63-64. CHAPTER 58 1. the kingdom of heaven is at hand," but by the establishment of the Four Noble Truths. 1 One appeals the to feeling, and the other to the which appeals to the less passionate, but the truth seems to be feeling without the is, support of intellect leads to fanaticism and The doctrine of Nirvana is always doubtless more intellec- tual than the Christian gospel of love. human nises the wretchedness of our daily experiences; is bigotry and superstition. itself to ready to yield That intellect. intellect naturally then finds it It as life its first is recog- proved by cause in our subjective ignorance as to the true meaning of existence, our and our egocentric desires which, obscuring in spiritual insight, chimerical things ; it make then us tenaciously cling to annihilation of egoism, the root of subjectively, of tranquillity objectively, the the complete all evil, by which, is restored, proposes heart and, becomes realisation of universal love Buddhism, thus, proceeds most logically in the development of its doctrine of Nirvana and unipossible. versal love. Says Victor reduction Hugo (Les Miserables^ vol. II): of the universe to a single being, the ex- pansion of a single being even to God, this When a "The man clings to the self is love." and does not want 1 According to one Northern Buddhist tradition, Buddha is recorded to have exclaimed at the time of his supreme spiritual beatitude "Wonderful All sentient beings are univerwith the intelligence and virtue of the sally endowed : Tathagata!" ! CHAPTER 59 I. to identify himself with other fellow-selves, he cannot expand his being to God. When he shuts himself in narrow shell of ego and keeps all the world outside, he cannot reduce the universe to his innermost the self. To The love, therefore, truth through the disposition some are others to one must first enter Nirvana. everywhere the same and is attained removal of ignorance. But as individual is according to the previous karma, more prone to intellectualism, while the differs sentimentality (in its psychological sense). Let us then follow our own inclination conscientiously and not speak evil of ombse.- Tto^U called the Doctrine of Middle Path. ^s CHAPTER II. HISTORICAL CHARACTERISATION OF MAHAYANISM "\ It 7E are now in a position to exposition of the enter into a specific Mahayana doctrine. But, before will be well for us first to consider the doing so, it views that were held by the Hindu Buddhist thinkers concerning its characteristic features in other words, to make an historical survey of its peculiarities. ; As stated in the Introduction, the term was invented in the times of Mahayana Nagarjuna and Aryadeva (about the third or fourth century after Christ), when doctrinal struggles between the Qravaka and the Bo- dhisattva classes Hindu Buddhists, features of their reached a climax. progressive announce the desiring to doctrine, The did so essential naturally at the expense of their rival and by pointing out why theirs was greater than, or superior to, Hinayanism. Their views were thus necessarily vitiated by a partisan spirit, rating and instead of impartially and the principal characteristics critically enume- of Mahayanism, they placed rather too much stress upon those points that do not in these latter days appear to be very essential, but that were then considered by them to be of paramount importance. These points, never- CHAPTER throw some theless, Buddhism as on the nature of Mahayana distinguished from its consan- light historically and fellow-doctrine. rival guineous 61 II. Stkiramati' s Conception of Mahayanism. 1 Sthiramati states that his in Mahayanism who Bodhisattvas, other two classes, The buddhas. consists that the to be distinguished are viz, belief Mahayanism to a special doctrine for the is from the the Qravakas and the Pratyekadifference essential the in are merely Indroduction that of objects the doctrine of the senses phenomenal and have no absolute reality, Dharmakaya which is all-per- indestructible vading constitutes the norm of existence,, that all Bodhisattvas 2 are incarnations of the Dharmakaya, who karma previously accumulated, but boundless love for all mankind, assume not by their their by 1 evil not known, but judging from the contents of which we have at present two or three among the Chinese Tripitaka, it seems that he lived later than His date is his works, of Agvaghosa, but prior to, or simultaneously with, Nagarjuna. book occupies a very important position in the development of Mahayanism in India. Next to Agvaghosa's Awakening of Faith, the work must be carefully studied by scholars who want to grasp every phase of the history of This little Mahayana school as far as it can be learned through the Chinese documents. 1 Be it remarked here that a Bodhisattva is not a particu- man in the sense of chosen people or elect. are all in a way Bodhisattvas, that is, when we recognise truth that we are equally in possession of the Samyak- larly favored We the sambodhi, Highest True Intelligence, and through which everybody without exception can attain final enlightenment. CHAPTER 62 II. corporeal existences, and that persons who thus appear in the flesh, as avatars of the Buddha supreme, themselves with the masses in associate social them relations, possible to a state of enlightenment. While this Mahayana is a its summary statement of the more elaborate and extended very doctrine, enumeration of a peculiar features in contradistinc- tion to those of Hinayanism, on lanea Stages of 4 Mahayana is made in the Metaphysics, the Yogdcara, 2 An Miscel- The Spiritual l Exposition of the Holy A Comprehensive Treatise on Mahay aand others. Let us first explain the "Seven Doctrine, nism, all order that they might thus lead in 3 General Characteristics" as described in the first three works here mentioned. Seven Principal Features of Mahayanism. According to Asanga, who lived a Nagarjuna, that is, at the little further divided into the Yogacarya and the mika later than time when Mahayanism was school, the seven features peculiar to Madhya- Mahayanism as distinguished from Hinayanism, are as follows: (i) Its Comprehensiveness. Mah^nism does not confine itself to the teachings of one 1 No. Mahayana-abhidharma-sangiti-fastra, by Buddha alone; Asanga. Nanjo, 1199. * Yogacarya-bhumi-f&stra, Nanjo, No. u7o. The work is supposed to have been dictated to Asanga by a mythical Bodhisattva. 8 4 By Asanga. Nanjo, 1177. Mahayana-samparigraha-fastra, by Asanga. Nanjo, 1183. CHAPTER 63 II. but wherever and whenever truth is found, even under of most absurd superstitions, it makes no hesitation to winnow the grain from the husk and the disguise assimilate it in its own system. Buddhas laws * of Innumerable good ages and localities taught by taken up in the coherent body of Mahayanism. Universal love for All Sentient Beings. Hinaya(2) nism confines itself to the salvation of individuals are all all only ; it does not extend person must achieve his on the other its own aims hand, bliss universally, as deliverance. at general each Mahayanism, salvation; it endeavors to save us not only individually, but univerthe All sally. Bodhisattvas motives, pivot efforts, on the and actions of the furtherance of universal welfare. Greatness Its (3) in Intellectual Comprehension. Mahayanism maintains the theory of non-atman not only in regard to sentient beings but in regard to things in general. While it denies the hypothesis of a metaphysical agent directing our mental operations, it also rejects the .view that insists on the noumenal or thingish reality of existences as they appear to our senses. (4) Its Marvelous Spiritual Energy. The Bodhisattvas never become tired of working for universal salvation, T Perceiving an incarnation of the Dharmakaya in every leader regardless of his nationality and professed spiritual creed, Mahayanists recognise a Buddha in Socrates, Mohammed, Jesus, Francis of Assisi, Confucius, Laotze, and many others. CHAPTER 64 II. nor do they despair because of the long time required to attain momentous this accomplish To object. try to in the shortest possible period without paying any attention the welfare of the masses, is not the teaching of enlightenment and to be to self-sufficient Mahayanism. Its (5) Greatness The term upaya Exercise of the the literally sympathetic fatherly great in Up aya. means expediency. The heart of the Bodhisattva has inexhaustible resources at his command in order that he might lead the masses to final enlightenment, according to his disposition and environment. Mahayanism does not ask its followers to escape the metempsychosis of birth and death for the sake of each entering for in the into lethargic metempsychosis its coma is tranquillity of Nirvana; in itself is no evil, and Nirvana not productive of any good. And as long as there are souls groaning in pain, the Bodhisattva cannot rest unselfish his until he leads so all his of Buddhahood. rable in heart, To Nirvana; there is no rest for of love and sympathy, full fellow-beings to the eternal bliss reach this end he employs innume- means (upaya) suggested by disinterested his lovingkindness. (6) Its the Higher Spiritual Attainment. highest bliss Arhatship which of Mahayanism its spiritual (7) Its is attainable does ascetic saintliness. attain In Hinayanism not go beyond But the followers even to Buddhahood with powers. Greater Activity. When the all Bodhisattva CHAPTER 65 II. reaches the stage of Buddhahood, he is able to manifest himself everywhere in the ten quarters of the universe * and to minister to the spiritual needs of all sentient beings. These seven reasons the why of to be the doctrine defended by the pro- gressive Buddhists doctrine enumerated are peculiarities is to be called vehicle, great Mahayanism, or the contradistinction in to vehicle. In each Hmayanism, the doctrine of small case, therefore, Asanga takes pains to draw the line of demarcation of distinctly the two schools between Buddhism and not between Buddhism and other doctrines religious which existed all at his time. The Ten Essential Features of Buddhism. The tures of following statement of the ten essential feaas presented in the Comprehen- Mahayanism sive Treatise on Mahayanism, rent from is made from the a diffefor it is preceding one, the pronunciamento of the Yogacara school of Asanga 1 standpoint Ancient Hindu Buddhists, believed in the existence with their fellow-philosophers, of spiritually transfigured beings, who, not hampered by the limitations of space and time, can manifest themselves everywhere for the benefit of all sentient beings. We notice some mysterious figures in almost all Mahayana sutras, who are very often described as shedding innumerable rays of light from the forehead and illuminating all the three thousand worlds simultaneously. This may merely be a poetic exaggeration. But this Sambhogakaya or Body of Bliss (see Acvaghosa's Awakening of Faith, us to comprehend as it is p. 101) literally is very described. difficult for For a treatment see the chapter on "Trikaya." 5 fuller 66 CHAPTER and Vasubandhu II. than rather of that Mahayanism generally. This school together with the Madhyamika school of Nagarjuna the two divisions of constitute Hindu Mahayanism. 4 The points enumerated by Asanga and Vasubandhu as most essential in their system are ten. (i) It teaches an immanent existence of all things Alayavijnana or All-Conserving Soul. The conception of an All-Conserving Soul, it is claimed, the in was suggested by Buddha in the so-called Hinayana sutras but on account of its deep meaning and of ; the liability of conception, in their its he but sutras; Mahayana being confounded with the ego-soul not disclose its full significance did made it known only in the sutras. According to the Yogacara school, the Alaya is not an universal, but an individual mind or soul, whatever we all things world may term exist in it, their does not in reality in which the "germs" of 2 ideality. The objective exist, but by dint of sub- Though I am very much tempted to digress and to enter into a specific treatment concerning these two Hindu Mahayana doctrines, I reluctantly refrain from so doing, as it 1 requires a somewhat lengthy treatment and does not entirely fall within the scope of the present work. 2 That Agvaghosa's conception of the Alaya varies with the view here presented may be familiar to readers of his Awakening of Faith. This is one of the most abstruse problems in the philosophy of Mahayana Buddhism, and there are several divergent activities, etc. theories In a work concerning like this, it its is nature, attributes, impossible to give even a general statement of those controversies, however CHAPTER these all 67 created by ignorance, we pro"germs" in the Alayavijnana to the jective illusion that ject II. is outside world, and imagine that they are there really as they are while the Manovijnana (ego-consciousness) ; which too a product of illusion, tenaciously clinto the ging Alayavijfiana as the real self, never aban- dons is its ferent The egoism. Alayavijnana, however, and irresponsible to, the part of the Manovijnana. (2) of The Yogacara knowledge: I. for, all is indif- these errors on * school distinguishes three kinds Illusion (parikalpita), 2. Discrimi- native or Perfect Knowledge (parinispanna). distinction may best be illustrated by the wellanalogy of a rope and a snake. Deceived by The known a Relative in similarity Knowledge (paratantra), and appearance, men 3. frequently take a rope lying on the ground for a poisonous snake and interesting they tual may be development to students of the history of intellec- in India. The Alayavijnana, to use the phraseology of Samkhya philosophy, is a composition, so to speak, of the Soul (purusa) and Primordial Matter (prakrti). It is the Soul, so far as it and all those phenomenal manifestaas well as without us. It is within on going Primordial Matter, inasmuch as it is the reservoir of everything, whose lid being lifted by the hands of Ignorance, there instantly springs up this universe of limitation and relativity. is neutral indifferent to tions, that are Enlightenment or Nirvana, therefore, consists in recognising the error of Ignorance and not in clinging to the products of imagination. 1 For a more detailed explanation of the ideal philosophy my article on the subject in Le Muse'on, of the Yogacara, see 1905- 68 CHAPTER are terribly shocked on that accoun t. But when they II. approach and carefully examine it, they become at once convinced of the groundlessness of this apprehenwhich was the natural sequence of illusion. This considered to correspond to what Kant calls be may Schein sion, . Most their people, in are contented with the sensual, They inquiry. do not go any further however, empirical knowledge of an object with which they come contact. in When understand that the they a snake was really nothing thing they but a yard of innocent rope, they think their knowl- mistook for edge of the object with themselves whether the not is stop merely philosophical just to reflect that their for relative, is real existence in itself. any moment a investigation as to which to them rope appears to be, has complete, and do not trouble is a what it They do knowledge does not go beyond the it phenomenal significance of the things they perceive. But is an object in reality such as it appears to be to our senses? Are particular phenomena as such really actual? What the value of our knowledge is concerning those so-called realities? an investigation into Yogacara school says, only relative and has such we When we make problems as these, the find that their existence is no absolute value whatever independent of the perceiving subject. They are the "ejection" of our ideas into the outside world, which are centred which are and conserved awakened into in our Alayavijnana and activity by subjective CHAPTER 69 II. ignorance. This clear insight into the nature of things, i.e., into their non-realness as atman, constitutes perfect knowledge. (3) When we the recognise of the universe. There ideality such thing as an objective world, which is is no really an manifestation of the mind called Alayavijnana, illusive even But we attain to the perfect knowledge, this is Alayavijnana supposedly a real existence of the product of particularisation called by the ignorant Manovijnana. The Manovijnana, or empirical ego, as it might be called, having no forth knowledge as to the true nature of the adequate Alaya, takes the latter for a metaphysical agent, that like the master of a puppet-show manages all mental operations according to itself imprisons its humour. As the silkworm the cacoon created in Manovijnana, entangling takes its own fusion, by itself, the ignorance and con- itself in illusory creations for real realities. (4) For the regulation of moral life, the Yogacara with the other Mahayana schools, proposes the practising the of which are 3. I : . Paramitas (giving), Ksanti (meekness), 6. (meditation), way to six Dana of 4. Prajna (virtues 2. of perfection), ftla (moral precept), Virya (energy), 5. Dhyana (knowledge or wisdom). In says Asanga: "By not clinging pleasures (i), by not cherishing any explanation, wealth or thoughts to violate the precepts (2), dejected in the face of evils (3), by not feeling by not awakening any thought of indolence while practising goodness (4), CHAPTER 7O II. by maintaining serenity of mind in the midst of disturbance and confusion of this world (5), and finally f and by truthfully by always practising ekacitta comprehending the nature of things (6), the Bodhisat- tvas recognise the truth of vijnanamatra, that there nothing that is is the truth not of ideal or subjective creation. Mahayanism teaches (5) stages of Bodhisattvahood, Durangama, 2 gha . By another, 8. Pramudita, 2. Vimala, 6. Abhimukhi, Acala, 9. Sadhumati, 10. Dharmame- 3 Prabhakari, 4. Arcismati, 7. that there are ten spiritual viz., I. 5. Sudurjaya, all passing through are believed to we these stages one after reach the oneness of Dharmakaya. (6) The Yogacarists claim that the precepts that by the followers of Mahayanism are far are practised superior to those of Hinayanists. The latter tend to externalism and formalism, and do not go deep into our spiritual, subjective motives. Now, there are physical, verbal, neglecting than the tion 1 and spiritual precepts observed by The Hinayanists observe the first two the last which is by far more important Buddha. the rest. of the For ten instance, the (Jravaka's interpretaiksas 3 is literal and not spiritual; -'One mind" or "one heart" meaning the mental attitude is in harmony with the monistic view of nature in its which broadest sense. 2 These ten stages of spiritual development are somewhat minutely explained below. See Chapter XII. 8 The ten moral precepts of the Buddha are: (i) Kill no living being; (2) Take nothing that is not given; (3) Keep CHAPTER II. 71 further, they follow these precepts to Nirvana for their attain others'. The own because they wish sake, and not for Bodhisattva, on the other hand, does not wish to be bound within the narrow circle of moral restriction. mankind, if at an universal emancipation of ventures even violating the ten c.iksas, Aiming he The necessary. first giksa, for instance, forbids the killing of any living being; but the Bodhisattva does not hesitate to go to war, in case the cause he espouses and beneficient to humanity at large. As Mahayanism insists on the purification of is right (7) inner the outward, teaching applies not to things principles are not of the ascetic and its life, its exclusive The Mahay anists do not shun kind. to commingle themselves with the "dust of worldliness" they aim at the realisation of the Bodhi; they are ; not of afraid thrown into the whirlpool of they endeavor to impart spiritual being metempsychosis; benefits to all whether their attitude, having immovable faith never become contaminated themselves they worldly be in trine beings without regard to hostile or friendly, towards sentient ; pleasures touch ; with in the Mahayana, by vanity and which they may constantly they have a clear insight into the doc- of non-atman live faults, they Suchness and ; being in perfect discharge free from all spiritual accord with the laws of their duties without the matrimonial sanctity; (4) Do not lie; (5) Do not slander; (6) Do not insult; (7) Do not chatter; (8) Be not greedy; (9) Bear no malice; (10) Harbor no scepticism. CHAPTER 72 conceit or self-assertion least life : in a The intellectual superiority of the Bodhisattva shown by his possession of ticularisation (andndrtka). phically considered, is 1 knowledge of non-par- This knowledge, philoso- the knowledge of the absolute, or the knowledge of the universal. mind word, their inner a realisation of the Dharmakaya. is (8) is II. The Bodhisattva's from the dualism of samsara (birth-anddeath) and nirvana, of positivism and negativism, of being and non-being, of object and subject, of ego is free and non-ego. the limits realm His of final of the in knowledge, realities, short, soaring transcends high the to and the abode of non-par- absolute ticurality. (g) the In consequence Bodhisattva in the intellectual elevation, perceives the working of birth and nirvana in the transmigration death in nirvana, and of birth and death. many" of this He the "ever-changing and the "neverone," "never-changing sees Mahayanism recognises two "entrances" through which a comprehensive knowledge of the universe is obtained. One is called the "entrance of sameness" (samatd) and the other 1 the "entrance of diversity" (nandtva). The first entrance universality of things and suggests a pantheistic interpretation of existence. The second leads us to the particularity of things culminating in monotheism or introduces us to the polytheism, as it is viewed from different standpoints. The Buddhists declare that neither entrance alone can lead us to the sanctum sanctorum of existence and in order to obtain ; a sound, well-balanced knowledge of things in general, must go through both the entrances of universality and cularity. we parti- CHAPTER 1 changing one' inward life is II. 73 "ever-changing many." His accord at once with the laws of the in in phenomena and with those of transcenden- transitory According to the former, he does not recoil as ascetics do when he comes in contact with Suchness. tal the world of the senses the that the flesh ills the he never latter, inmost he ; heir to; is according to but, to things evanescent, his clings consciousness not afraid of suffering is forever dwells in the serenity of eternal Suchness. The (10) final distinctly Mahayanistic There it is, is the is doctrine of Trikaya. the highest being which asserted, cause the ultimate to be mentioned as characteristic of the universe and in which is all existences find their essential origin and significance. This is called however, Dharmakaya, luteness, effect. a devil, an it by the Mahay anists Dharmakaya. The does not remain reveals itself in its abso- the realm of cause and in then takes a particular form. It becomes or a god, or a deva, or a human being, or It animal of lower grade, to itself adapting the degrees of the intellectual development of the people. For it is the people's inner needs which necessitate the special forms of Nirmanakaya, that is, This manifestation. the is called body of transformation. The Buddha who manifested himself in the person of Gautama, the son of King of (^uddhodana about two thousand five hundred years ago on the Ganges, is a form of Nirmanakaya. Sambhogakaya, or body of The bliss. third one This is is called the spiri- CHAPTER 74 II. body of a Buddha, invested with all possible grandeur in form and in possession of all imaginable tual The conception psychic powers. is full of wild of Sambhogakaya imaginations which are not easy of modern minds. by comprehension enumerated at seven or ten characteristics These ! are what as peculiarly Mahayanistic dhist philosophers of the or fifth to be sixth the essential what they thought the Hindu Bud- down century to the of the Christian era thought century most first points entitled of their faith and to be called the "Great it Vehicle" (Mahay ana) of salvation, in contradistinction to the faith embraced by their conservative brethren. we view them now, But, as the points here specified are to a great extent saturated with a partisan spirit, and besides they more are or scattered and less unconnected statements of the so-called Nor do they of Mahayanism. tures information the concerning nature salient fea- furnish of much Mahayanism system of religious teachings. They a but general and somewhat obscure delineation give of it, and that in opposition to Hinayanism. In point as a coherent of Mahayanism fact, has many of the latter, Buddhism 1 characteristics The is and as concerned school of Buddhism and a common in Indeed, the spirit of nism. in the is the former with Hinayais also that the general trend of there is no need of em- far as doctrine ol Trikaya will be given further elucidation chapter bearing the same title. CHAPTER phasising other. a the On significance 75 II. of one the following pages more comprehensive and I school over the shall try to present impartial exposition of the Buddhism, which has been persistently designated by its followers as Mahayanism. SPECULATIVE MAHAYANISM. CHAPTER III. PRACTISE AND SPECULATION. TV * /TAHAvANISM * main tures in perhaps can best be treated divisions, as its it doctrinal Buddhist solely in The first two has distinctly two principal fea- development. I the speculative phase of Mahayanism practical. in essentially a where the mind is part metaphysics, ratiocination may and is call one and the other abstraction. sort of engaged Here the plays a very prominent part, and some of most abstruse problems of philosophy are freely discussed. Speculative followers of Buddhism have intellect the taken great interest in the discussion of them and have written many volumes on various subjects. ' 1 No efforts have yet been made systematically to trace the history of the development of the Mahayana thoughts in India as well as in China and Japan. have enough ma- We course it has taken, as Chinese and Tibetan collections of Tripitaka are concerned. When a thorough comparison by impartial, unprejudiced scholars of these documents has been made with the Pali and Sanskrit literature, then we shall be able to terial at least to follow the general far as the write a comprehensive history of the human thoughts that CHAPTER The second with such or practical phase of that beliefs religious and essence of the system. reasoned but the faith itself sentiment which and to wrongfully practical 77 III. the is life Mahayanists might have outburst of the religious inherent can be it the explain their practical faith, human in by is therefore, part, in fact is Mahayanism deals constitute far nature. This more important, said that the speculative part merely a preparatory step toward it. Inasmuch as Mahayanism is a religion and not a philosophical system, it must be practical, that is, it must directly is appeal to the inmost life and Relation of Feeling So much has been so firmly Intellect in Religion. that by them the between and there are many scholars ; believe in the identity either with superstitions or with tion, heart. said about the relation philosophy and religion who human of the of religion supernatural revela- denial of this assertion is considered practically to be the disavowal of all religions. no midway For, according to them, there is A and yet practical religion religion. which is rational Now, Buddhism is in religion. is no neither a vagary of imagi- nation nor a revelation from above, and on this account it has The been title declared by some to be a philosophy. "Speculative Mahayanism" thus, is apt to have governed the Oriental people during the last two thousand years. When this is done, the result can further be compared with the history of other religious systems, thus of humanity throwing much light on the general evolution CHAPTER 78 III. be taken as a confirmation of such opinion. To remove all the misconceptions, therefore, which might be entertained concerning the religious nature of Mahaya- nism and deemed relation There tical; The attitude its it toward intellectualism, between feeling and intellect is no doubt that religion is does it latter, have I wise here to say a few words about the not essentially prac- theorisation. require necessarily properly in religion. is speaking, business the of If religion was a product of the intellect could not give satisfaction to the needs of solely, man's whole being. Reason constitutes but a part of philosophy. it the organised totality of an individual being. Abstraction however high, and speculation however deep, do the inmost yearings of the human not as such satisfy heart. But this they one's inner tion life and constitution that ; becomes a concrete fact principle in one's existence becomes do when they enter into can ; is, when abstrac- and speculation a in short, living when philosophy religion. Philosophy as such, therefore, is generally distinguished from religion. But we must not suppose that religion as the deepest expression of a can eliminate element. altogether from The most predominant it the human being intellectual role in religion may be played by the imagination and feeling, but ratiocination must not fail to assert its legitimate right in the co-ordination of beliefs. religion becomes When this right is denied, fanaticism, superstition, fata morgana, and even a menace to the progress of humanity. CHAPTER The 79 III. intellect is critical, objective, and always to stand apart from the things that are taken examination. from This concrete alienation facts tries up for or keeping itself aloof on the part of the intellect, constantly tends to disregard the real significance of of which it is also a manifestation. Therefore, life, the conflict between feeling and reason, religion and instinct science, and knowledge, has been going on since the awakening of consciousness. this Seeing intellectual people fact, are generally condemn religion as barring the freedom prone and obstructing the progress of scientific investigato true that religion went frequently to the tions. It other extreme and of is reason; with case tried to true is it Christianity, that suppress the just claim this was especially the whose history abounds with regretable incidents resulting from its violent encroach- ments upon the domain of reason. It is also true the feeling and the intellect are sometimes at that variance, that what the feeling esteems as the most crushed by the reason, while the feeling looks with utmost contempt at the results that have been reached by the valuable treasure intellect after flict at times relentlessly is much no better than the is between the head and the is cut in twain We cannot forever; a ; it live But lucubration. fight tail this fatal con- which takes place of a hydra when it always results in self-destruction. under such a miserable condition when we know that myopia on the part of it is altogether due to our understanding. The 8O CHAPTER truth that is and feeling III. "cannot do with- reason one another, and must work together out the in rably insepa- human development, of process since reason without feeling could have nothing to act for and would be impotent to act, while feeling without that would act tyrannically and blindly to say, if either could exist and act at all with- reason is out the other; reason, which cording as for acts, but he end in the feels is it and it the is not feeling nor man who reasons". acts ac- Maudsley's (H. Natural Causes and Supernatural Seemings, p. vn). If it is thus admitted that feeling and reason must co-ordinate and co-operate man* religion, of ideals, emotional the in the realisation of though essentially a phenomenon cannot be indifferent to the life, significance of the intellect. Indeed, religion, as as philosophy, has ever been speculating blems that are of the most man ried to In life. much on the pro- importance to huChristianity speculation has been carvital on under the name of theology, though be hu- fundamentally a religion of claims In India, faith. however, as mentioned elsewhere, there it was no ding line between philosophy and religion ; divi- and every teaching, every system, and every doctrine, however abstract and speculative it might appear to the Western mind, was at bottom religious at the deliverance of the soul. ophical system that did not and always aimed There was no philos- have some practical purpose. Indian thinkers could not separate religion from CHAPTER philosophy, practice flowed of out the from 81 III. Their philosophy theory. human very spring of the heart was not a mere display of fine intellectuation. their thinking were not in the right direction and If and led to a fallacy which made life more miserable, were ever ready to surrender themselves to a as soon as it was discovered. But doctrine superior they when they thought they were not did hesitate to they Their philosophy had as much Buddhism and Owing is full in sacrifice the right track, their for it. as religion. fire Speculation. Buddhism as much to this fact, life as Hinduism of abstract speculations and philosophical reflec- tions so inclined much to so deny the that some Christian religiosity of critics are Buddhism. But no of the science of comparative religion would indorse such a view nowadays. Buddhism, in spite of student its predominant intellectualism, system. There is no doubt that is really a religious it emphasises the raelement of religion more than any other religious teachings, but on that account we cannot say that tional it altogether disregards the importance of the part to be played phical by the feeling. Its speculative, philosophase is really a preparation for fully appre- ciating the religion is subjective ultimately significance of subjective, that religion, is for to say, the essence of religion is love and faith, or, to use Buddhist phraseology, it is the expression of the Bodhi which 6 82 CHAPTER consists karuna in or wisdom) and Mere compassion). knowledge (not or (love love guided by l prajna prajna) has very III. (intelligence human value in little and faith, life. When not readily turns out to be it the most obedient servant of egoism and sensualism. What Tennyson says Buddhism perfectly true with "Who the in loves not following is : knowledge Against her beauty? verses May With men and prosper! Her pillars? Let her work Who ? shall rail she mix Who shall fix prevail. "But on her forehead sits a fire She sets her forward countenance ; And leaps into the future chance, Submitting things to desire. all "Half grown as yet, a child, and vain She cannot fight the fear of death. What is she, cut from love and faith, But some wild Pallas from the brain "Of demons ? fiery-hot to burst her onward race For power. Let her know her place; She is the second, not the first. All barriers in "A higher hand must make her mild, be not in vain, and guide If all Her footsteps, moving side by side With Wisdom, like the younger child." 1 Prajna, bodhi, buddhi, vidy& and jha or jnana are all synin many cases interchangeable. But they allow onymous and a finer discrimination. reason, bodhi Speaking wisdom or buddht way, prajn& is enlightenment, and jna or jnana intellect. Of and bodhi are essentially Buddhistic indya ideality or knowledge, these five terms, prajna in a general intelligence, CHAPTER But it ignores the 83 III. must be remembered that Buddhism never the part which purification of is faith. played by the intellect in For exercise of the intellect, that and prejudices are all it is by the judicious religious superstitions finally destroyed. The intellect is so far of great consequence, and we must respect it as the thunderbolt of Vajrapani, which crushes everything that is mere sham and false. But at the same time we must also remember that quintessence of religion like the house built on the solid rock never suffers on account of this destructhe tion. Its foundation lies too deeply buried in human and have acquired technical meaning. In this work both prajna and bodhi are mostly translated by intelligence, for their extent of meaning closely overlaps each other. But this is rather vague, and wherever I thought the term intelligence alone to be misleading, I either left the originals unTo be more translated, or inserted them in parentheses. exact, prajna in many cases can safely be rendered by faith, not a belief in revealed truths, but a sort of immediate knowledge gained by intuitive intelligence. Prajna corresponds in some respects to wisdom, meaning the foundation of all reasonings and experiences. It may also be considered an equivalent for Greek sophia. Bodhi, on the other hand, has a decidedly religious and moral significance. Besides being prajna itself, it is also love (karuna) \ for, according Buddhism, these two, prajna and karuna, constitute the essence of Bodhi. May Bodhi be considered in some respects synonymous with the divine wisdom as understood by Christian dogmatists? But there is something in the Buddhist notion of Bodhi that cannot properly be expressed by wisdom or intelligence. This seems to be due to the difference of philosophical interpretation by Buddhists and Christians of to the conception of God. farther. It will become clearer as we proceed CHAPTER 84 heart damaged by knowledge or science. So is a human heart warm with blood and be to long as there burning with powerful will III. the of fire life, Indeed, the more severely the under foot religious sentiment and illuminating becomes The true it more crucible of the intellect, the tested in the rious the intellect however never be able to trample religion its is glo- intrinsic virtue. therefore, never reluctant to appear is, before the tribunal of scientific investigation. In fact by ignoring the ultimate consciousness, what significance of the religious digging its own grave. For purpose has science other than the unravelling science of the mysteries meaning is nature of of existence? And and is this reading into the not what consti- tutes the foundation of religion? Science cannot be final, it must find reason in religion as a mere it is not worthy of our serious its exercise intellectual ; consideration. Religion and Metaphysics. The French sociologist, M. Guyau, says in his the Future (English translation p. 10) of Irreligion : "Every positive and historical religion presents three distinctive and essential elements: (i) An attempt a at mythical and non-scientific explanation of natural phenomena (divine intervention, miracles, efficacious prayers, etc.), or of historical facts (incar- nation so of of Jesus Christ or of Buddha, revelation, and forth) ; (2) symbolic A system of dogmas, that ideas, of imaginative is beliefs, to say, forcibly CHAPTER imposed upon one's III. 85 though they even faith as absolute verities, no are susceptible of scientific stration or philosophical justification; (3) A demon- cult and system of rites, that is to say, of more or less immutable practices regarded as possessing a mar- a velous upon the course of efficacy things, a propi- tiatory virtue. A religion without myth, without dogma, without without cult, rite, somewhat bastard product, is is more than no 'natural religion,' that which resolvable to a system of metaphysical hypotheses." M in Guyau seems to think that what will be left religion, when severed from its superstitions and imaginary beliefs and mysterious rites, is a system of metaphysical speculations, and that, therefore, it is not a religion. But in my opinion the French soshares ciologist among the the scientific error men that is of to-day. right in trying to strip religion of very prevalent He perfectly all is its ephemeral elements and external integuments, but he is entirely wrong when he does this at the expense of its very essence, which consists of the inmost yearings of the human heart. And this essence has no affinity which grow round it like excrescences as the results of insufficient or abnormal with the superstitions nourishment. philosophising Nor does and it concern metaphysical problems. cry from the abysmal from and identifies itself with it. depths of the that can never be silenced, until it, with mere hypotheses constructing Far itself about Religion human finds that is a heart, something which reveals the teleoit CHAPTER 86 logical significance of life has something a III. and the universe. But value subjective makes Faust exclaim, "Feeling for it I tively have none." or Because Why? be intellectually is only, all it in as this Goethe name all, cannot objecin the demonstrated, as case with those laws which govern phenomenal existhe proper objects of the discursive tences, And understanding. what makes If religion subjectivity human of religion is righteousnesses as filthy garments." deprived of its dogmas and cults is to "all be considered, system this M. Guyau as of metaphysics, subjective significance or indeed constitutes thinks, nothing but a we utterly lose sight of its its emotional element, which raison d'etre. its * * * Having this in view we proceed to see first on what metaphysical hypothesis speculative Mahayana Buddhism built is that this phase of to its more under the up ; but the reader must remember is merely a preliminary which we expound later Mahayanism essential part, heading of "Practical Mahayanism," contradistinction to "Speculative Mahayanism." in CHAPTER CLASSIFICATION OF IV. KNOWLEDGE Three Forms of Knowledge. JV/T AHAYANISM generally distinguishes two or three forms of knowledge. This of epistemology, inasmuch as it classification is a sort proposes to ascertain the extent and nature of human knowledge, from a religious point of view. Its object is to see human knowledge is most reliable what kind of and valuable for the annihilation of ignorance and the attainment of enlightenment. The Mahayana school which has given most attention to this division of Buddhist philosophy is the Yogacara of Asanga and Vasubandhu. The Lankavatara and the Sandhinirmocana and some other on which the school claims Sutras, foundation, sutra into teach literature, any three forms however, as to have its doctrinal knowledge. The a rule does not enter of detailed exposition of the subject ; it merely knowledge and points out what form of knowledge is most desirable by the Buddhists. To obtain a fuller and more discursive elucidation, we classifies must come to the Abhidharma Pitaka of that school. Of of the the text books most generally studied CHAPTER 88 IV. Yogacara, we may mention Vasubandhu's Vijnanamatra with its commentaries and Asanga's Comprehensive Treatise on The Mahdydnism following statements are abstracted mainly from these documents. The three forms of knowledge as classified by the Yogacara are: (i) Illusion (parikalpita), (2) Relative Knowledge (paratantra), and (parinispanna) (3) Absolute Knowledge . Illusion. (parikalpita), to use Kantian phraseology, Illusion is a sense-perception not co-ordinated of the that understanding; is by the categories to say, a purely is it subjective elaboration, not verified by objective reality and judgment. So long as we make no practical it will harbor no danger; there is it, critical application of no it, is evil a in psychical straight rod the at least religiously. Perceptual illusion in refraction the limb after fact, and such as is justified. it A water appears crooked on account of of it light a sensation ; is often felt in has been amputated, for the nervous system has not yet adjusted itself to the new condition. They are all illusions, however. They are doubtless the in correct of interpretation question, but sense-impressions they are whose the sense-impressions not confirmed by other coordination to establish an objective reality. in this is : all is necessary The moral involved sound inferences and correct behavior must be based on illusory premises. critical knowledge and not on CHAPTER Reasoning in this wise, that the egoism fostered IV. 89 the Mahayanists declare by vulgar minds belongs to this class of knowledge, though of a different order, and that those who tenaciously cling to egoism as their final stronghold are believers fata an intellectual in morgana, and are like the thirsty deer that madly water in the desert, or like the after the visionary crafty monkey in the water. that tries to catch the lunar reflection Because the belief existence of in the a metaphysical agent behind our mental phenomena is not confirmed by experience and sound judgment, it being merely a product of unenlightened subjectivity. Besides this ethical and philosophical egoism, all forms of world-conception which sandy basis of subjective idolatry, the like, illusion, is founded on the such as fetichism, anthropomorphism, anthropopsychism, and must be classed under the parikalpita-laksana as doctrines having illusionary premises. Relative Knowledge. Next comes the paratantra-laksana schauung based upon relative , knowledge, a or welt-anbetter, upon the knowledge of the law of relativity. According to this view, everything in the world has a relative claim and an conditional absolute This closely existence, reality free and nothing can from all limitations. corresponds to the theory advanced by most of modern scientists, whose agnosticism denies our intellectual capability of transcending the law of relativity. CHAPTER QO ^ The paratantra-laksana, knowledge derived the outward world. we stractions riences. says It The : can is IV. It consists in the therefore, from our deals daily intercourse with the with highest ab- make out of our sensuous expe- positivistic in strictest sense. its It universe has only a relative existence, and our knowledge is necessarily limited. Even the highest generalisation cannot go beyond the law of relativity. It is impossible for us to know the first cause and nor have we any ultimate end of existence need to go thus beyond the sphere of existence, which would inevitably involve us in the maze of mystic the ; imagination. The paratantra-laksana, or therefore, empiricism Yogacara Buddhists do not use agnosticism, a positivism, is in its spirit. these all Though the modern phi- losophical terms, the interpretation here given is really mean by the second form of world-conception based on this view, what they intended to A knowledge. it declared is as our perceptual does not exhaust knowledge is is sound as concerned the entire field of ; human far but it experi- does not take into account our spiritual and our inmost consciousness. There is some- ence, for life by the Mahayanists, it thing in the human heart that refuses to be satisfied merely systematising under the so-called laws of nature those multitudinous impressions which we There is a singular receive from the outside world. with feeling, or sentiment, or yearning, call it, in whatever we may our inmost heart, which defies any plainer CHAPTER description than seems despite 91 mere suggestion or an indirect somewhat mystic consciousness a This statement. IV. obscureness to contain the meaning its of our existence as well as that of the universe. intellect may persuade us with to try all its The subtle reasonings to subdue this disquieting feeling and to remain contented with the systematising of natural But laws, so called. because and so it the it is intellect is deceiving itself by so doing; but a servant to the heart, not forced to self-contradiction, must accommodate itself to the needs of the heart. That is far as is it we must to say, transcend the narrow limits of conditionality and see what indispensable postulates are underlying our nition life and experiences. of these indispensable stitutes the The postulates of recogcon- life Yogacara's third form of knowledge called parinispanna-laksana. Absolute Knowledge. Parinispanna-laksana literally means the worldview founded on the most perfect knowledge. According to this pantheistic view, system. the While universe is a monistico- phenomenal existences natural laws characterised by conditionality and individuation, they by no means exhaust all our experiences which are stored in our inmost are regulated by consciousness. the absolute late There must be something, demand of humanity, of experience, be it which, underlying and animating this is the ultimate postu- Will, or Intelligence, all existences, forms CHAPTER 92 IV. of cosmic, ethical, and religious life. This highest Will, or Intelligence, or both may be termed God, but the Mahayanists call it religiously Dharthe basis makaya, ontologically Bhutatathata, and psychologAnd they think it must ically Bodhi or Sambodhi. be immanent all places and times petual creation This of in principle of morality. how do we come presence? The Buddhists being so, its itself manifesting must be the cause of per- it ; must be the it ; universe the in to the recognition say that when our minds are clear of illusions, prejudices, and egotistic assumptions, they become transparent and reflect the truth thus a like in gained dust-free mirror. The consciousness our so-called parinispanna^ the that leads to Nirvana, final illumination constitutes the most perfect knowledge, salvation, and eternal bliss. World-views Founded on the Three Fronts of Knowledge. The why es reason the will Yogacara be obvious school of world-conception to the reader distinguishes three class- founded on the three kinds The parikalpita-laksana is most knowledge. most and primitive puerile. However, in these days of enlightenment, what is believed by the masses is of naught else than a parikalpita conception of the world. The material existence as it appears to our senses is to shake them in all. They seem to be unable to yoke of egoistic illusion and naive Their God must be transcendent and anthro- off realism. all the CHAPTER 93 IV. and always willing to meddle with worldly popathic, whim affairs as his How pleases. different the world which the multitudes of unreflecting minds are is, living, from that which is conceived by Buddhas and in Hartmann, a German thinker, is right, when he says that the masses are at least a century Bodhisattvas behind ! the in thing strange their ignorance culture. intellectual their in world is and superstitious But the most that, in spite of all beliefs, the universal transformation are ever carrying waves of them onward to a destination, of which, perhaps, they have not the slightest suspicion. The paratantra-laksana advances but the fundamental error involved tent self-contradictory consciousness a step further, it is its persis- disregard for what our inmost constantly revealing to us. The intellect by no means unravel the mystery of our can alone is in entire existence. In order to reach the highest truth, we must boldly plunge with our whole being into a light of region where absolute darkness defying the supposed to prevail. This region which is. no more nor less than the field of religious consciousintellect is ness is shunned by most of the intellectual people on the plea that the intellect by its very nature is unable to fathom it. But the only way that leads us to go the final pacification beyond the horizons of the heart-yearnings of limiting resort to the faith that has is to reason and to been planted in the heart qua non of its own existence and vitality. And by faith I mean Prajna (wisdom), transcendental as the sine CHAPTER 94 IV. knowledge, that comes direct from the intelligenceessence of the Dharmakaya. A mind, so tired in vainly searching after truth and bliss in the verbiage of philosophy and the nonsense of ritualism, finds itself here completely rested bathing in the rays of divine whence effulgence, question, being so which alone from felt. this is, does it not with supramundane blessings Buddhism calls this exalted Moksa; and parinispannaa world-conception which naturally follows state Nirvana or spiritual laksana are filled is this subjective , ideal enlightenment. * Two Forms of Knowledge. The school three, other Hindu Mahayanism, conclusion. the Madhyamika Nagarjuna, distinguishes two, instead of of knowledge, but practically the orders of Yogacara and the 1 the Madhyamika come to the same 2 For detailed exposition of the three forms of knowledge, reader is requested to peruse Asanga's Comprehensive Mahayanism (Nanjo's Catalogue, No. 1183), Vasubandhu's work on Mahayana idealism ( Vijnanamatra astra, Treatise on Nanjo, No. 1215), the Sutra on the Mystery of Deliverance (Sandhinirmocana-sutra, Nanjo. Nos. 246 aud 247), etc 2 When the eminent representatives of both parties, such as Dharmapala and Bhavaviveka, were at the height of their literary activity in India about the fifth or sixth century after Christ, their partisan spirit incited them bitterly to denounce each other, forgetting the common ground on which their principles were laid down. Their disagreement in fact on which they put an undue emphasis was of a very trifling nature. It was merely a quarrel over phraseology, for one insisted on using certain words just in the sense which the other negated. CHAPTER The two kinds IV. 95 of knowledge or truth distinguished by the Madhyamika philosophy are Samvrtti-satya and Paramartha-satya, that is, conditional truth and transcendental truth. We read in Nagarjuna's Madhyamika fdstra pp. (Buddhist Text Society edition, 180, 181): "On two The holy truths founded is doctrine of Buddhas: Truth conditional, And truth transcendental. "Those who The verily know not distinction of the two truths. Know not the essence Of Buddhism which The is l meaningful." conditional truth includes illusion and relative knowledge of the Yogacara school, while the tran- scendental truth corresponds to the absolute knowledge. In explaining these two truths, the Madhyamika philosophers have made a constant use of the terms, gunya and agunya, void and not-void, which unfor- became a cause of the misunderstanding tunately by scholars Christian philosophy. nature, for Absolute it individual that But this some 1 of Nagarjuna's transcendental truth contains makes must not superficial it be is void in its ultimate concrete or real or nothing an object of particularisation. understood, critics, in the as sense is done by of absolute Dve satye samupa9ritya buddhanam dharde^ana Lokasamvrttisatyafi ca satyafi ca paramarthatah. Ye ca anayor na jananti vibhagam satyayor dvayoh, Te tatvam na vijananti gambhirabuddhagasane." CHAPTER 96 IV. The Madhyamika philosophers make the satya (transcendental truth) empty when contrasted nothingness. with the realness of phenomenal existences. Because it is not real in the sense a particular being is real; but it is empty since it transcends the prinof ciple individuation. When considered absolutely, can neither be empty nor not-empty, neither gunya nor agunya, neither asti nor ndsti, neither abhdva it nor bhava, neither imply relation Satya is in is object better, it it Paramdrtha unifies all con- absolute oneness. its at particularising. of intellectuation It or all may of the true nature understanding edge. them, even to designate naming while the contrast, and antitheses trasts fore, and above nor unreal. All these terms real It is There- lead to the mis- of the Satya, for not, as such, an or of demonstrative knowl- underlies everything conditional and pheno- menal, and does not permit itself to be a particular object of discrimination. Transcendental Truth and Relative Understanding One may an abstract standing, say: If nature, transcendental truth is of such beyond the reach of the underever hope to attain it and how can we enjoy its blessings? But Nagarjuna says that it is not absolutely out of the ken of the understanding; on the through the understanding that we become acquainted with the quarter towards it is, which our contrary, spiritual efforts should be directed, only CHAPTER us let the not final reality. 97 means by which we grasp to the A finger cling IV. needed to point is at but when we have recognised the moon, us no more trouble ourselves with the finger. The the moon, let fisherman a carries what need but when the contents we long as edge or to take the fish home, he to worry about the basket are safely on the table? Only so are not yet aware of the way to enlight- us not ignore the value of relative knowl- let enment, basket has conditional Nagarjuna terms truth or lokasamvrttisatya as it. not by worldly knowledge, truth is not understood; When the truth is not approached, "If The Nirvana From discourages is it this, the beliefs. religious science that and that it is not attained." to * be infered that Buddhism never scientific, For it critical is investigation of one of the functions of should purify the contents of a belief should point out in which direction our spiritual truth and consolation have to be sought. final Science it alone which is built on relative knowledge our religious cravings, but it is certainly able to direct us to the path of enlightenment. When this path is at last revealed, we shall is not able to satisfy know how to avail all ourselves then Prajfia (or Sambodhi, or 1 of the discovery, as Wisdom) becomes the Vyavaharam anagritya paramartho na degyate, Paramartham anagamya nirvanam na adhigamyata. The Madhyamika, p. 181. 7 CHAPTER 98 guide of life. Here we enter unknowable. The demonstrable, into the region of the spiritual facts for that the uninitiated glimpse of them. IV. we experience are not they are so direct and immediate are altogether at a loss to get a CHAPTER BHUTATATHATA V. (SUCHNESS). 1HROM the ontological point of view, Paramartha-satya or Parinispanna (transcendental truth) is called means "suchness of existAs Buddhism does not separate being from Bhutatathata, which literally ence." thought nor thought from being, what the objective subjective world, is suchness in transcendental truth in the is world, and vice versa Bhutatathata, then, Godhead of Buddhism and it marks the consummation of all our mental efforts to reach the is the , highest principle, which unifies tions all possible contradic- and spontaneously directs the course of world- events. In short, it is the ultimate postulate of exist- ence. Like Paramartha-satya, as above stated, it does not belong to the domain of demonstrative knowledge it or sensuous experience is unknowable by the ; ordinary processes of intellectuation, which the natural sciences use in the formulation of general laws; and grasped, declare the Buddhists, only by the minds that are capable of exercising what might be it is called religious intuition. Agvaghosa argues, in his Awakening of Faith for the indefinability of this first principle. When we say it is c.unya or empty, on account of its being indepen- CHAPTER IOO dent of all V. we the thinkable qualities, which attribute and conditional, people would take the nothingness of absolute void But when we to things relative for it define it a as real as reality, stands above the 'it evanescence of phenomena, they would imagine that there of pale we is something individual and existing outside the universe, which, though as concrete as this ourselves are, lives an eternal life. It is like describing to the blind what an elephant looks like; each one of them gets but a very indistinct and imperfect conception of the huge creature, yet every one of them thinks he has a true and most comprehen- Agvaghosa, thus, wishes to eschew all definite statements concerning the ultimate nature of sive idea of l it. being, but as language we mortals them to is the only mode with which can express our ideas and communicate he thinks the best expression that others, can be given to it is Bhutatathata, i. "suchness of e., existence," or simply, "suchness." Bhutatathata (suchness), thus absolutely viewed, does not fall under the category of being and non-being; and minds which are kept within the narrow circle of contrasts, must be said to be incapable of grasping it as it truly is. Says Nagarjuna in his (Jastra (Ch. XV.) "Between thisness (svabhava) and thatness (parabhdva), Between being and non-being, Who The 1 1 Cf. discriminates, truth of Buddhism he perceives not." * The Udana, chapter VI. Svabhavam parabhavanca, bhavancabhavameva ca, Ye pagyanti, na pac.yante tatvam hi buddhagasane. : CHAPTER IOI V. Or, "To think To 'it is', is eternalism, think 'it is not', is nihilism: Being and non-being, The wise cling not to either/* 1 Again, * "The dualism of to be and not The dualism of pure and not-pure Such dualism having abandoned, ' ' quote, 5859): (pp. has that sation, "In its to nothing conditional: from again, it free is such as exist ' in the middle." 9 The wise stand not even To to be, : the Awakening of Faith metaphysical origin, Bhatata- do with things from in all defiled, i.e., signs of individuali- phenomenal objects: it is independent of an unreal, particularising consciousness." Indefinabitity. Absolute Suchness from all definitions. We very nature thus defies its even say that it is, for presupposes that which is not: cannot everything that is existence and non-existence much and as that, 1 subject are terms as relative and object, mind and matter, this one and other: one cannot be conceived Astiti ca^vatagraho, nastltyucchedadarcanam: Tasmadastitvanastitve nacriyet* vicaksanmh 1 Astiti n&stiti ubhe pi anti ' uddhi aguddhiti ime 'pi anti; Tasmadubhe anta vivarjayitva Madhye ' pi . syanam na karoti pa^ditmh. IO2 CHAPTBft V. without the other. "It may be the only can express not so (na &*) 1 ," therefore, our imperfect human tongue is way So the Mahayanists it. nate absolute Suchness as But when be more to most this fully generally desigor void. unyata word, cunyata, significant we would interpreted, Ac.vaghosa that "Suchness existence nor that which neither that which is is is say with is non-existence; neither once existence and non-existence, not at once existence and nonis which nor that which that it existence; which and and 1 at is is neither that which is plurality; neither that which is nor that which plurality, is unity nor that once unity not at once unity is at * plurality.'* This is the famous phrase in the Brhadaranyaka Upamsat IV, 2, 4 IV III, 9, 26 (II, 3, 6 occurring in several places ; ; ; 22; IV, 5, 5). The Atman or Brahman, it says, "is tc be described by No, No! He is incomprehensible, for h< cannot be comprehended; he is imperishable, for he cannot perish; he is unattached, for he does not attach himself 4, he does not suffer, he does not fail. Him (whc knows), these two do not overcome, whether he says that foi some reason he has done evil, or for some reason he has don< good he overcomes both, and neither what he has done, noi unfettered, what he has omitted to do, * The Awakening of Faith, of Dionysius the in his Varieties cause of all affects him." p. 59. Cf. this Areopagite, with the utterances as quoted by Prof. of Religious Experience^ pp. things is W. 41641? : Jaraei Th< neither soul nor intellect; nor ha* imagination, opinion, or reason, or intelligence; nor is spoken or thought It is neither number, nor order, noi magnitude, nor littleness, nor equality, nor inequality, noi It neither stands, nor moves similarity, nor dissimilarity. nor rests..*. It is neither essence, nor eternity, nor time it il CHAPTER V. IO3 famous doctrine of "The Middle Path Nagarjana's of Eight No's" breathes the same spirit, which declares : no death, no birth, no destruction, no persistence, No oneness, no manyness, no coming, no departing, "There is l Elsewhere, he expresses the same idea in a some- what paradoxical manner, making the historical Buddha a real concrete manifestation of Suchness : deem not "After his passing, ' The Buddha thus: ' still is here, He is above all contrasts, To be and not to be. "While c living, The Buddha deem not thus: now here. ' is He is above all contrasts, To be and not to be." * view of Suchness as no-ness abounds This the of literature Dhyana in the To school of Mahayanism. When Bodhi-Dharma 3 the founder cite one instance Even does not belong to it. It is neither nor truth. It is not even royalty nor wisdom not not unity not divinity or goodness nor even spirit as : , intellectual contact science one ; ; ; ; we know T ad libitum. it.". Anirodham anutpadam anucchedam ac.ac_vatam, Anekartham ananartham anagamam anirgamam. . . . (Madhyamika fdstra, 2 first stanza.) Param nirodhadbhagavan bhavatityeva nohyate, Na bhavatyubhayam ceti nobhayam ceti nohyate Atisthamano Na : ' pi bhagavan bhavatityeva nohyate, bhavatyubhayam ceti nobhayam ceti nohyate. (Madhyamika, p. 199). He was the third son of king of Kac.i<?) in southern India. He came to China A. D. 527 and after a vain attempt to conto his own view, he retired to a monastery, vert Emperor 3 Wu where, it is reported, he spent all day in gazing at the wall CHAPTER IO4 of the Dhyana (A D. 502 V. saw Emperor Wu of Liang dynasty he was asked what the first principle sect, 556), of the Holy Doctrine was, he did not give any lengthy, periphrastic statement- after the manner of a philosopher, but laconically replied, "Vast emptiness and nothing The Emperor was bewildered and did not know holy. how to take the words of his holy adviser. Naturally, he did not expect such an abrupt answer, and, being ventured another question: disappointed, greatly "Who is he, then, that stands before me?" By this he meant to repudiate the doctrine of absolute SuchIf there is ness. His line of argument being this : nothing in the ultimate nature of things that distin- guishes between holiness and sinfulness, why this world of contrasts, where some are revered as holy, for instance, moment Bodhi-Dharma who in front of is at this standing of propagating the holy teachings of Buddha Dharma, however, was a mystic and was vinced express of the insufficiency of the the highest truth very him with the mission which ? Bodhi- fully con- human tongue is to revealed only without making any further venture to propagate his mysticism. But finally he found a most devoted disciple in the person of Shen Kuang, who was once a Confucian, and through whom Dhyana school became one of the most powerful Mahayana the in China as well as in Japan. Dharma died in the year Besides the one here mentioned, he had another audience 535. with the Emperor. At that time, the Emperor said to Dharma: "I have dedicated so many monasteries, copied so many sect sacred books, and converted so many bhiksus and bhiksunis what do you think my merits are or ought to be?" To this, however, Dharma replied curtly, "No merit whatever." : CHAPTER the to intuitively V. IO5 His con- consciousness. religious answer was, "I do not know" 4 This "I do not know" is not to be understood clusive the in of spirit agnosticism, "but "God when understood is in no God," sense of the for in se est per se conceptur. This way of describing Suchness by negative terms only, excluding all differences of name and form (namarupa) to reach a higher kind et of affirmation, seems one, inasmuch as the to be many much misinterpretation even ; most appropriate human understanding in so respects the but, nevertheless, it is limited has caused among Buddhists them- mention those Christian Buddhist schol- selves, not to who sometimes appear almost ars of to-day, wilfully to misconstrue the significance of the gunyata philo- was It sophy. to avoid these unfortunate misinter- made the Suchness is that the Mahayanists frequently pretations paradoxical assertion that absolute empty and not empty, cunya and agunya, being and non-being, sat and asat, one and many, this and that. The "Thundrous Silence." There yet absolute most remains another mode of explaining Suchness, which though most practical and effective may prove for very the religiously disposed minds, inadequate to a sceptical intellect. Another interesting utterance by a Chinese Buddhist, who, for earnestly pondering over the absoluteness of Suchness several years, understood it one day all of a sudden, is: "The very instant you say it is something (or a nothing), 1 you miss the mark." CHAPTER IO6 It V. the "thundrous silence" of Vimalakirti in response is inquiry concerning the nature of Suchness or to an "Dharma the of Non-duality/' as is it termed in * the Sutra Bodhisattva Vimalakirti j>nce asked a host of Bodhisattvas by Manjugri, who came led to visit him, how to enter into the Dharma of Non-duality. Some replied, "Birth and death are two, but the Dharma itself was never born and will never die. Those who understand this are said to enter into the Dharma of Non-duality." Some to said, T there are " am' 'I thus and 'mine' are two. Because shall we reflecting Some But two. called things where duality." views as to their express look enter into think 'I But as there 'mine.' we I am' is for things 'mine'? the Dharma of no By Non- "Samsara and Nirvana are replied, when we understand the ultimate nature of Samsara, Samsara vanishes from our consciousness, and there birth the nor neither is death. Dharma By bondage thus nor release, reflecting we neither enter into of Non-duality." Others said, "Ignorance and enlightenment are two. No ignorance, no enlightenment, and there is no dualism. Why? Because those who have entered a meditation in which there no sense-impression, no cogitation, are free from ignorance as well as from enlightenment. This holds is true with who enter * all the thus other into The Vtmalaktrii Sutra, Chapter 5. dualistic the thought categories. Those of sameness are Kumarajiva's translation, Part II, CHAPTER Dharma said to enter into the others answered, "To of are worldliness V. lO/ of Non-duality." Still long for Nirvana and to shun Long not for Nirvana, dualism. shun not worldliness, and we are free from dualism. Why? Because bondage and release are relative terms, and when there no bondage from the beginning, who wishes to be released ? No bondage, no release, is and therefore no longing, no shunning the entering into the Dharma Many more answers from give of Non-duality." of similar nature Vimalakirti Manjugri. own his "What this is called came forth the Bodhisattvas in the assembly except the all leader : I now requested him to view, and to this Manjugri responded, may be think stated thus: That which is in all beings wordless, speechless, shows no signs, is not possible of cognisance, and is above all questo know this is said to tionings and answerings, enter into the Dharma of Non-duality." Finally, the host Vimalakirti himself was demanded by Manjucri to express his idea of Non- duality, but he kept completely Thereupon, done, well above silent admiringly Manjugri done letters ! and uttered not a word. exclaimed, The Dharma of Non-duality and words!" "Well is truly 1 Deussen relates, in his address delivered before the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1893, a similar attitude of a Vedantist mystic in regard to the highest Brahma. 'The 1 Bhava, therefore, when asked by the king Vaksalin, to explain the Brahman, kept silence. And when the king repeated his request it you, again and again, the rishi broke out into the answer 'I tell but you don't understand it f&nto 'yam dtmd, this atmais silence !" : ; CHAPTER IO8 V. Now, of this Suchness, the Mahayanists distinguish two aspects, as it is comprehended by our consciousand non-conditional, or the phenomenal world of causality and the transcenwhich are conditional ness, realm dental corresponds of to relative truth 1 It is absolute that, in freedom. the field and transcendental This distinction of knowledge, of truth. d a well-known fact that the Vedanta philosophy, too, similar distinction between Brahman as sagunam makes a and Brahman as nirgunam (unqualified). The former phenomenal, and has characteristics of its own; but the latter is absolute, having no qualification whatever (qualified) is relative, to speak of, it is absolute Suchness. (See Max Mueller's The p. 220 et seq.) Six Systems of Indian Philosophy, Here, a very interesting question suggests itself: Which the original and which is the copy, Mahayanism or Vedantism ? Most of European Sanskrit scholars would fain wish to is dispose of it at once by declaring that Buddhism must be the borrower. But I am strongly inclined to the opposite view, for there is reliable evidence in favor of it. In a writing of Acvaghosa, who dates much earlier than Qankara or Badarayana we notice this distinction of absolute Suchness and relative Suchness. He writes in his Awakening of Faith et seq.) that though Suchness is free from all modes (p- 55 of limitation and conditionality, and therefore it cannot be thought of by our finite consciousness, yet on account of Avidya inherent in the human mind absolute Suchness manifests itself in the phenomenal world, thereby subjecting itself law of causality and relativity and proceeds to say that there is a twofold aspect in Suchness from the point of view of its explicability. The first aspect is trueness as negation (funyata) in the sense that it is completely set to the apart from the attributes of all things unreal, that it is a The second aspect is trueness as affirmation veritable reality (afunyata), in the sense that it contains infinite merits, that it is self-existent. Considering the fact that Acvaghosa comes CHAPTER V. IO9 Suchness Conditioned. Absolute transcendental Suchness defying all means of characterisation does not, as long as it so remains, have any direct significance in the phenomenal world and human life. When it does, it must become condi- Suchness as Gesetzmassigkeit in nature and as ethical order in our practical life. Suchness as absolute tional is too remote, too abstract, metaphysical seems not to affect us in as limited Its transcendental. is it consciousness, conscious activities, to and may have only a existence value. non-existence or our daily social life, inasmuch In order to enter into our* to become the norm of our regulate course the of the evolutionary tide in nature, Suchness must surrender its "splendid isolation," must abandon When seat Suchness thus comes the in realm of unthinkability, universe unfolded before our eyes in and magnificence. Twinkling sky; the planet absoluteness. its down from its sovereign- we have its all this diversity stars inlaid in the vaulted elaborately decorated with verdant meadows, towering mountains, and rolling waves the the beasts birds cheerfully singing in the woods ; ; wildly running through the thickets; the summer heavens ornamented with white fleecy clouds and on any Vedanta philosophers, it stands to reason to latter might have borrowed the idea of distinthe two aspects of Brahma from their Buddhist earlier than say that the guishing predecessors. ankara also makes a distinction between saguna and mrguna vidya, whose parallel we find in the Mahayanist samvrtti and paramartha satya. CHAPTER IIO earth and leaves growing branches all V. the winter prairie destitute of abundant in all animation, luxury; only with naked trees here and there trembling in the dreary north winds; all these manifestations, not a varying mathematical, of astronomical, are laws, biological breadth hair's else their and chemical, physical, naught from deviation than the work of conditional Suchness in nature. When we the human turn to work of of activity as tions, intellectual efforts, makes the man the for frolic; causes us when we to etc. It to drink imagina- makes us when in all desire thirsty; it woman, and the woman children in merriment and men and women bravely to carry life. When we are oppressed, it "Let cry, us have are treated with injustice, murder and to keeps it braces burden of the we have long for the man; it history, passions, aspirations, when hungry, and eat and conditional Suchness manifested forms to life fire or liberty it die" ; leads us even and revolution; when our noble sentiments are aroused to the highest pitch, it makes us ready to sacrifice all that is most dear to us. In the kaleidoscopic changes of this phenomenal world, subjective as well as objective, come from the brief, all hands playing constitutes of the conditional goodness and Suchness. It blessings the sins, crimes, and misery which the flesh 1 a While passing, polemic critics in this stubbornly I cannot footnote. refuse to of is not only life, but heir to. 1 help digressing and entering on The fact is, Western Buddhist understand correctly what is CHAPTER Ill V. Ac.vaghosa in his Awakening of Faith speaks of the Heart (krdaya) of Suchness and of the Heart of Birth-and-Death. By the Heart of Suchness he means the absolute and by the Heart of Birth-andDeath a manifestation of the absolute in this world of particulars. says he, but "They they are are not separate," one, for the however, Heart of by Buddhists themselves. Even scholars who are supposed to be well informed about the subject, go astray and make false charges against Buddhism. Max Mueller, for example, declares in his Six Systems of Indian Philosophy (p. 242) that "An important distinction between Buddhists and Vedantists is that the former holds the world to have arisen from what is not, the latter from what is, the Sat or Brahman." The reader who has carefully followed my exposition above will at once detect in this Max Mueller's conclusion an incorrect statement of Buddhist doctrine As I have repeatedly insisted Suchness, though described in negative terms, is not a of nothingness, but the highest possible synthesis that the human intellect can reach. The world did not come from said, state the void of Suchness, but from its fulness of reality. If it were not so, to where does Buddhism want us to go after deliver- ance from the evanescence and nothingness of the phenomenal world ? Max Mueller in another place (op. cit. p. 210) speaks of the Vedantists' assertion of the reality of the objective world for practical purposes (vyavaharartham) and of their antagonistic attitude toward "the nihilism of the Buddhists." "The Budseems to refer to the followers of the Madhyamika dhists" this school, but a careful what they denied perusal of their texts will reveal that as a was not the realness of the world manifestation of conditional Suchness, realness and our attachment to it but as such. its independent The Madhyamika was not in any sense a nihilistic system. True, its advocates used many negative terms, but what they meant by them was obvious enough to any careful reader. school 112 CHAPTER Suchness of Birth-and-Death. our limited of we have Heart the is account world a of V. senses and finite It mind particulars, which, as it is on that is, is no more than a fragment of the absoulte Bhutatathata. And yet that we nature is it through this fragmentary manifestation are finally enabled to reach the fundamental of in its entirety. Says Agvaghosa, on the "Depending Tathagata-garbha, there evolves the Heart of Birth-and-Death. What is immortal and what mortal are harmoniously blended, for they nor are they separate Herein all one, is not are being things are organised. The above is Hereby from the all things are created." standpoint. ontological When is viewed psychologically, the Heart of Suchness enlightenment, for Buddhism makes no distinction between being and thought, ultimate nature of the two one. world and mind. The considered to be absolutely speaking of the nature of enlightenment, "It is like the emptiness of space says Now, is Agvaghosa and the brightness of the mirror : and real, It things. and is in that it the world. Nothing goes out of into one defile of in the reflected nothing it, is its is eternal It it. is every phase life it, and activity nothing enters annihilated, nothing soul, is immaculate the destroyed. no forms of defilement can virtues hearts of perfumes Heart of Suchness, which it, of the essence of intelligence. numerous it true, It in It is completes and perfects all free from the condition of destructibility. great. In is it is all By reason which inhere beings." Thus, enlightenment and CHAPTER the essence of V. I works constantly intelligence, 13 in and through the hearts of all human beings, that is, in and through our finite minds. In this sense, Buddhism declares that truth highly abstract of our phenomena not is philosophical sleeping, etc. dressing, walking, and does not abstract; not "dissect to murder." sought in but in the such life everyday acts be to formulae, it The Heart as eating, of Suchness and does synthesises Questions Defying Solution. of Speaking we Suchness, world the as manifestation a the most puzzling are here beset with minds ever since questions that have baffled the best the dawn ever of intellect. leave They abode its are the in : of Why did Suchness mysterious realm of and descend on earth where every transcendentality form of misery greets us on all sides ? What inherent necessity was there for it to mingle in the dust of worldliness of bliss did while its own it could ever Suchness absolute enjoy absoluteness? To dispose of human interests -In the unspeakable other words, become why conditional Suchness ? these questions as not con- cerning is the creed of agnosticism and positivism but the fact is, they are not questions whimsically framed by the human mind when it was ; in the of the the mood most of playing with vital significance of itself. importance life They ever are queries put to us, and entirely hangs on our inter- pretation of them. 8 I CHAPTER 14 V. Buddhism confesses that the mystery the human mind, by beyond the region of purely for absolutely and the power intellect finite unsolvable is is it of a logical demonstrability. The mystery can only solved in a practical way when we attain the be highest which of enlightenment spiritual Bodhi the with Buddhahood, in its unimpeded supernatural light directly looks into the very abyss of Suchness. The Bodhi kernel of or our being, When of Suchness. expands vessel Intelligence in the poured is this Body constitutes the realisation in us partial intelligence is merged and of Suchness, as the water in a the into a which waters of boundless the once perceives and realises its nature, ocean, its destiny, and its significance in life. Buddhism is a religion and leaves many topics it at of metaphysics unsolved, at least logically. Though more intellectual and philosophical than any other religion, it does not pretend to build a complete it is system of concerned, As speculation. Buddhism is far theorisation as and dogmatic is assumes without revealing their dialectical But processes. they are all necessary and fundamental many propositions hypotheses of the the ultimate demands of the human religious consciousness no positive obligation to prove its soul. they are Religion has ; propositions after the fashion of the natural sciences. It is enough for religion to state the facts as they are, and the intellect, though hampered by limitations inherent in it, has to try her best to put them together in a coherent system. CHAPTER The stated 115 by Buddhism of those queries solution, then, above cannot be said -to be very from free V. serves all serious required dufficulties, and purposes By discipline. religious but this I logical and practically conducive is mean it to the Buddhist theory of Nescience or Ignorance (avidya). Theory of Ignorance. The theory of nescience or ignorance (avidya) is an attempt by Buddhists to solve the relation between the one and the many, between absolute Suchness and conditional Suchness, between Dharmakaya and Sarvasattva, between wisdom (bodhi) and sin (klega)^ between Nirvana and Samsara. But Buddhism does not give us any systematic exposition of the doctrine. it says is categorical and dogmatic. "This What universe is really the Dharmadhatu * it ; is character- by sameness (samata) there is no differentiation (visama) in it it is even emptiness itself (funyata) ised ; ; ; all things no pudgala have (self). nescience, there are four or six skandha five (senses), All these cience "The or mahdbhuta (elements), six (or eight) niddna (chains of ignorance." of Suchness Heart ultimate Or, ; it is nature the does vijndna causation). names and forms (ndmarupa) Dharmadhatu The (aggregates), and twelve But, because of are of nes- according to Acvaghosa, is the vast All of one essence not of all perish, doctrines. nor does it Dharmadhatu is the world as seen by an enlightened mind, where all forms of particularity do not contradict one another, but make one harmonious whole. 1 * I 1 6 CHAPTER All decay. V. objects exist because of con particular - i fused subjectivity (smrti). Independent of confused is no outside world to be perceived there subjectivity, and discriminated." the law of birth and ignorance found are rature; negative in the to find One principle of the of ignorance and the is as these the Buddhist lite- how and why this came Suchness, we however, thing, in question an authoritative Ignorance creates everywhere to as body Such statements karma." almost but "Everything that is subject to and death exists only because of to assert itself are at a loss where definite certain, answer to which is it. this : (avidyd) is principium individium, that multitudinousness of phenomena in the absolute oneness of being, that tosses up the roaring billows of existence in the eternal ocean of Suchness, that wheel breaks of veiling the reflection the silence of Nirvana metempsychosis perpetually and starts the rolling, that, transpicuous mirror of Bodhi, affects the of Suchness therein, that transforms the sameness (samata) of Suchness to the duality of and thatness and leads many confused thisness minds to egoism with all its pernicious corollaries. Perhaps, ignorance the is best way to attack the to understand that problem of is a tha Buddhism roughly idealistic doctrine as every true religion should be, and that psychologically, and not ontologic- *The word literally means recollection or memory. Acvaghosa uses it as a synonym of ignorance, and so do many other Buddhist philosophers. CHAPTER V. 117 should Suchness be conceived, and further, that is inherent in Suchness, though only hypo- ally, nescience apparently, and not really in any thetically, illusively, sense. According to Brahmanism, there was in the beginning only one being and this being willed to be two ; ; which naturally resulted in the differentiation of subject and object, mind and nature. In Buddhism, howSuchness ever, any desire to is not explicitly stated as having had be other than itself, at least when it is purely metaphysically conceived. But as Buddhism interprets this world of particularisation as a manifestation of Suchness ignorance, conditioned and when Suchness, by affirmed will, by permitting is, principle as is and its be to itself of ignorance or itself, conditioned individuation. that by the The latter, expressly stated everywhere in Buddhist sutras and a c.astras, is no more than an illusion negative This quantity, chimerical essential rrakes this: world of of absoluteness the merely the is it nature monism roughly consistent. is being of Suchness; transcendental freedom of did so by negating it itself, have potentially or in the existed negatively principle of must be considered, however ignorance illusory in its ultimate nature, to rather by the is of Maya. ignorance preserves the the first principle and Mahayana doctrine tho- of the What veil to be noted here, however, Buddhism does not necessarily regard of particulars dream-like. When as altogether ignorance alone evanescent is this and taken notice CHAPTER Il8 V. of and the presence of Suchness in of dinousness things positively declared lightened mind midst of the an assumes is denied, be to all this existence But when void. Suchness perceives this multitu- an en- even the in darkness of ignorance, this utter new entirely aspect, is life and we come to realise the illusiveness of all evils. To return defined is ness 1 the subject, ignorance or nescience to shades different speak, this, ignorance of Suchness. is It of consciousness Ignorance sciousness the implies eternal absolute so that latter possible, illusive emanation then evident that the awakening first step toward the from the abyss of the For the unfolding of self- con- of the perceiving visayin and the visaya, of the separation the perceived, subject and object, point where an is, is marks the of Suchness. identity The meaning. in turn is universe of this rising of the raison d'etre of consciousness, while ignorance itself in According to makes the appearance of the which and from the unfathom- consciousness are interchangeable terms, though with to a spark of conscious- that spontaneously flashes able depths of Suchness. and as by Acvaghosa mind and abyss nature. of Suchness, so called, is the subjectivity and objectivity are merged oneness. It is the time, though strictly 1 Smrti or citta or vijnana. They are all used by Ac. vaghosa and other Buddhist authors as synonymous. Smrti literally means memory; citta, thought or mentation; and vijnana is generally rendered by consciousness, though not very accurately. CHAPTER V. 119 speaking chronology does not apply here, when all "the ten thousand things" of the world have not yet been differentiated and even when the God who made "created heaven and the To debut. his has not yet earth" use psychological terms, it is a state of transcendental or transmarginal consciousness, where vanish, all and conceptual images sense-perceptions where we are and a state of absolute in unconsciousness. This sounds mystical but fact that in the field of our established ; there activities an is it is an mental where consciousness abyss suddenly disappears. This region beyond sometimes the threshold of awaredness, though often a trysting place for psychical abnormalities, has a great religious which significance, cannot be ignored by superficial arguments. Here is the region where the consciousness of subject and object is completely scientific we do here but annihilated, and darkness of a grave, nor nothingness. The not conscious it touch merely of lost in the here embrace the world-all to but is a state of absolute it indescribable, or better, of something as self have the silence not is of any feels celestial within presence expands so itself, and is egoistic elation or arrogance the joy it of fulness that reality and ; a cannot be imparted to by anything human. The most convincing from spiritual insight into the nature of being comes others this source. Buddhists to Enlightenment the actual is the gaining Bodhi or Prajna or intelligence is name given by of this insight. the term for the I2O CHAPTER V. power that brings about this enlightenment the mind emerges from this state of sameness, spiritual When consciousness spontaneously comes back as before, retaining the memory it vanished of the experience so unique and now confronting the world of contrasts and mutual dependence, in which our empirical ego moves. The transition from one state to the other of lightning scintilating from behind clouds; though the two, the subliminal and the like is the a flash superficial consciousness, seem to be one continuous form of activity, permitting no hiatus between them. At any rate, this awakening of subjectivity and the leaving behind of transmarginal consciousness marks the of start ignorance. Therefore, psychologically speaking, ignorance must be considered synonymous with the awakening of consciousness in a sentient being. Here we have the most mysterious fact that baffles our intellectual efforts to unravel, which is: How and why has ignorance, or what is tantamount, con- all sciousness, ever been awakened calmness from the absolute How and why have the (gdnti) waves of mentation ever been stirred up in the ocean of of being? eternal tranquillity ? Acvaghosa simply says, "spontaneously." This by no means explains anything, or at least it is not in the line with our so-called nor does it give us any reason why. Nevertheless, religiously and practically viewed, "spontaneous" is the most graphic and vigorous scientific interpretations, term there is for describing the actual state of things CHAPTER as they is always our mental eye. In before pass 121 V. something vague and psychological fact, indefinite in With whatever experiences. there all our scientific accuracy, with whatever objective precision we may describe the phenomena that take place in the mind, there is always something that eludes our scrutiny, too slippery, as is after compelled shall in leave to so that our we expositions, much are still to the imagination of the he happens to be lacking in the which we have endeavored to describe case In experience we ; our strenuous intellectual efforts to be exact all and perspicuous reader. were, to take hold of it vainly with impression the awaken o hope same in him the said of intensity and degree realness It is for this reason that Agvaghosa and other Mahayanists declare that the rising of consciousness out of the abysmal depths of Suchness is felt by Buddhas and other enlightened minds only that have actually through the experience. The why of nobody can explain as much as the why gone ignorance of Suchness spiritual fact, But when we personally experience this we no more feel the need of harboring any doubt about how or why Everything becomes transparent, and the rays of supernatural enlightenment shine like a halo round our spiritual personality. move the behest of Suchness, as dictated by by the Dharmakaya, and and satisfaction. unique in which we in the life of e., feel infinite bliss This religious experience phenomenon We i. is the most a sentient being. CHAPTER 122 V. Dualism and Moral As we cannot Evil. think that the essence of the external be other than that of our own mind, that to say, as we cannot think subject and object to world is be to is naturally our conclusion in their ultimate nature, different the that same of principle which gathers the clouds of subjectivity, of multitudinousness Suchness of The up the the world-mind in phenomena universe in Ignorance its calls entirety is an ginal mind, and our limited mind with its transmarconsciousness is a microcosm. What the finite mind feels in its infinite inmost self, must also be what the cosmic mind feels, nay, we can go one step further, and say that when the human mind enters the region lying beyond the border of subjectivity and objectivity, communion with in is it whose are secrets the heart of the universe, revealed here without reserve. between Buddhism does not make any distinction knowing and being, enlightenment and Suchness. When no more clings to things particular, Therefore, in the mind is free from ignorance and it is said to be harmony and even one with Suchness. must, however, remember that ignorance We the principle of individuation expression of Suchness, is and no moral a evil. as spontaneous The awa- kening of subjectivity or the dawn of consciousness forms part of the necessary cosmic process. The separation of of subject and object, or the appearance a phenomenal world, is nothing but a realisation CHAPTER the as an cannot as function essential world-totality. well in help and forming and willing. 123 mind (Dharmakaya). As such Ignorance of the cosmic performs V. all Ignorance an conceptions do not the evolution of in inherent in Buddhas sentient beings. perceiving We is Every one of us external world (visaya) and reasoning and feeling see any moral fault here. there is really anything morally wrong, then we cannot do anything with it, we are utterly helpless before it, for it is not our fault, but that of the If cosmic soul from which and in which we have our being. has produced everywhere a state of and reciprocal dependence. Birth is insepar- Ignorance relativity ably linked with death, congregation with segregation, evolution with involution, attraction with repulsion, the centripetal with the centrifugal force, the spring with the God fall, with Devadatta, evil, Adam Satan, etc., with Eve, Buddha with ad infinitum. These are necesof existence; and if existence is an ect., conditions sary the the tide with the ebb, joy with sorrow, they must be abolished, and with their abolition very reason of existence is abolished, which an impossibility as means absolute nothingness, of work as The exist. we ignorance in the world long of conditional dhists not Suchness is quite innocent, and Bud- do not recognise any contaminated by who speak conceive fault in its existence, if confused subjectivity. Those of the curse of existence, or those Nirvana to who be the abode of non-existence CHAPTER 124 V. and the happiness of absolute annihilation, are considered by Buddhists to be unable to understand the significance of Ignorance. there then no fault to be found with Ignorance Is Not to in Ignorance that it, is It object take are ignorant ot Ignorance. cling to the dualism of subject to final and act accordingly. work of ignorance the ? but in our defiled attachment when we is, wrong as itself, forget the foundation on which as It is wrong ultimate and stands. it and It is to to wrong, thinking that the awakening of consciousness reveals the whole world, to ignore the existence of unseen follow our realities. In when we try to realise the conclusions of ignorance short, evils quickly steps without knowing its true relation to Suchness. Egoism is the most fundamental of all errors and evils. When we hindering the light of intelligence from penetrating to the bottom of reality, we usually understand the term ignorance speak of as ignorance not in the philosophical sense of principium individuum, but in sense the conceives the culminating in of confused work of Ignorance egoism. So, the principle of Ignorance its is subjectivity, unenlightened as the we might is which final reality say that while philosophically justified, actualisation in our practical life altogether unwarranted and brings on us a series of dire calamities. CHAPTER VI. THE TATHAGATA-GARBHA AND THE ALAYA-VIJNANA. CUCHNESS existence, as manifestation. as is viewed is it (Bkutatathdtd), the ultimate principle of known by so many different names, in so many different phases of its Suchness constitutes it Dharma, when the existence it ; intelligence of Buddhahood considered is it the Bodhi is when Nirvana, ; the Essence of Buddhas, is reason the when it it egoism and Prajna (wisdom), when it of considered religiously and wisdom it is the nature; ; as the source of brings eternal peace to a heart troubled with course its vile intelligently the Bodhicitta (intelligence-heart), forms ; when viewed as transcending summum bonum the ethical all (kugalam)^ the is ; the it is fountain-head of love the awakener of religious consciousness (vacuity), passions directs Dharmakaya, when the is norm of the is it ; ; when QunyatH particular when its Highest Truth emphasised; phase (paramattha), when its epistemological feature is put forward; the Middle Path (madhyamarga), when it is of considered above the onesidedness and limitation individual (bhutakoti), existences; when its the Essence ontological aspect is of Being taken into CHAPTER 126 account ; VI. Womb the Tathagata- garbha (the gata), when earth, where where all is it all of Tatha- thought of in analogy to mother the germs of life are stored, and ' precious stones and metals are concealed under the cover of Suchness of some And filth. that I here it is of this last aspect to propose consider at length. The Tathagata-Garbha and Ignorance. Tathagata-Garbha or treasure or literally womb d which the essence of Ta- in store, means Tathagata's thagatahood remains concealed under the veil of IgnoIt rance. may rightly be called the womb of uni- from which issues forth the multitudinousness verse, of things, mental as well as physical. The Tathagata-Garbha, therefore, may be explained ontologically as a state of Suchness quickened by Ignorance and ready to be realised in the world of particulars, that is, when it is about to transform itself to the duality of subject and object, though there is yet no perceptible manifestation of motility in any form. Psychologically, man just is it the transcendental soul of coming under the bondage of the law of Though pure and free in its nature karmaic causation as the 1 expression of Suchness in man, the transcen- Cf. tt& Bhagavad&ta "The Brahman From that, O is a (S. womb descendant B E. Vol. VIII, chap. XIV, p. 107): me, in which I cast the seed. is the birth of all of Bharata for all ! Of the bodies, son of Kunti which are born from wombs, the main womb is the great Brahman, and I am things. the father, the giver of the seed." ! CHAPTER VI. 127 dental soul or pure intelligence is now influenced by the principle of birth- and-death and subjects itself to As determinations. organic and differentiation actualised is a in It desire, will then, absoffirc^ own is laws unfold ; it pheno- particularisation. essence of Tathagatahood, however, whenever are able to feel its the it hunger, material Garbha works under the constraint of intact, and, will its its its \ phase all considered, since the menal is a long for liberation, then no more of the freedom of Suchness, as long as / alone is to beginning Here jtruggle inwardly. there however, as soon as and even be annoyed by strive, Xlapndfew and that form, special yet devoid of is save will, particularities subject to their it is, limitation, bare possibility of them it it is is The here preserved possible, our finite minds presence and power. Hypothetic- Garbha always in association with passions and desires that are of Ignorance. read in the frimdld-Sutra : "With the storage therefore, ally, is We we find the Tathagata-Garbha, "The Dharmakaya of the Tath^gata not detached of passions attached or, from the storage of passions is called TathagataGarbha." In Buddhism, passion or desire or sin (kief a) is generally used in contrast to intelligence or Bodhi or Nirvana. represents a As the particular latter, religiously manifestation considered, in the human mind of the Dharmakaya or Bhutatathata, so the former a reflection of universal Ignorance in the microcosm. Therefore, the human soul in which, according to is Buddhism, intelligence and desire are merged, should 128 CHAPTER regarded as an Garbha. And it is in this capacity that the individuation of the Tathagata- be is VI. Garbha called Alayavijndna. The Alayavijndna and As we have Soul is of the seen, the Alayavijnana or All-Conserving a particularised expression in the It Tathagata-Garbha. reflex of the cosmic Garbha. the Alaya as Evolution. its is It is human mind an individual, ideal this "psychic germ," often designated, that stores is which are set ^1 the motion oy the possibilities, impetus of an external world, which works on the mental in Alaya through the six senses (vijndna). Mahayanism make and is idealistic essentially and does not a radical, qualitative distinction between subject object, thought and mind and being, nature, consciousness and energy. Therefore, the being and activity of the Alaya are essentially those of the Garbha; and again, as the Garbha the joint cre- is and Suchness, so is the Alaya the product of desire (klega} and wisdom (bodki). The Garbha and the Alaya, however, are each in ation of universal Ignorance itself innocent state existing and absolutely irresponsible for the of affairs. And let it be remarked here that Buddhism does not condemn this life and some reli- universe for their wickedness as was done by gious teachers and philosophers. edness is The not radical in nature and superficial. It is the and when they are so-called wickis merely work of ignorance and desire, life. It converted to do service for the CHAPTER they Bodhi, cease 129 wicked be to VI. or sinful or evil. Buddhists, therefore, strongly insist on the innate and intrinsic Says 75) : goodness of the Alaya and the Garbha Agvaghosa in his Awakening of Faith "In the All- Conserving Soul (Alaya} (p. Ignorance and from non-enlightenment [thus produced] that which sees, that which represents, that obtains, starts which apprehends an objective world, and that which constantly particularises." Here we have the evolution of the Garbha in other words, psychological manifestation; in its we have When here the evolution Alayavijnana. under the influence of birth-and-death no longer (samatd) (visayiri) ; retains its but there of the Garbha or Alaya comes the (samsdra), it primeval indifference or sameness come to exist and that which is that which sees seen (visaya), and an objective world. From these two forms of existence, we the a mind interaction have now of before of the universe swiftly our eyes the entire panorama and noiselessly moving with its never-tiring steps A most favorite simile with Buddhists to illustrate incessant these is to activities compare them of the phenomenal world, waves that are seen for- to the ever rolling in a boundless ocean, while the body of waters which make up the ocean is compared to up the waves to the principle of birth-and-death or ignorance which So we read in the Lankdvatdra is the same thing Suchness, Sutra : and the wind that stirs CHAPTER I3O VI. "Like unto the ocean-waves, Which by a raging storm maddened Against the rugged precipice strike Without interruption; Even so in the Alaya-sea Stirred by the objectivity-wind All kinds of mentation-waves 1 Arise a-dancing, a-rolling." But all the psychical activities full view, should not be conceived the Mind (citta) It itself. is thus brought into from as different merely in the nature of our understanding that we think of attributes apart from their substance, the latter being imagined to be in possession and control of the former. There is, however, of its no substance per se, independent and no attributes detached from that in fact attributes, which unites them. And tal conceptions in-itself tions etc. this is of Buddhism, considered apart from one of the fundamenthat there its is no soul- various manifesta- such as imagination, sensation, intellectuation, The innumerable ripples and waves and billows of mentation that are stirred in the depths of the Tathagata-Garbha, are not things foreign or external to it, but they are all particular expressions of the same essence, they are working out its immanent destiny. So continues the Lankdvatdra Sutra : 1 This is translated from Sanskrit reads as follows the Chinese of Qksananda; the : "Taranga hi udadher yadvat pavanapratyaya irita, Nrtyamanah pravartante vyucchedag ca na vidhyate Alayodhyas tatha nityam visayapavana iritah, Cittais tarangavijnanair nrtyamanah pravartate." : CHAPTER VI. 131 "The saline crystal and its red-bluishness, The milky sap and its sweetness, Various flowers and their fruits, The sun and the moon and their luminosity These are neither separable nor inseparable. : As waves are stirred in the water, Even so the seven modes of mentation Are awakened in the Mind and united with it. When We the waters are troubled in the ocean, have waves that roll each in its own way: So with the Mind All-Conserving. When stirred, therein diverse mentations arise Manas, and Manovijfiana. Citta, These we distinguish as attributes, In substance they differ not from each other : ; For they are neither attributing nor attributed. The sea-water and the waves, One varies not from the other: It is even so with the Mind and its activities Between them difference nowhere obtains. ; Citta is Manas karma-accumulating, an objective world, reflects is the faculty of judgment, Vijnanas are the differentiating senses." Manovijfiana The 1 From five the Chinese. The Sanskrit reads as follows tha lavane gankhe ksire ca carkare, Kasayaih phalapuspadyaih kirana yatha bhaskare No nyena ca nananyena taranga hi udadher mata VijSanani tatha sapta, cittena saha samyukta. "Nile rakte * : : : ' ; Udadheh parinamo sau taranganam vicitrata, Alayam hi tatha cittam vijnanakhyam pravartate; Cittam manac ca vijfianam laksanartham prakalpyate ' na laksya na ca laksana. Udadhec. ca taranganam yatha nasti vigesana. Vijnananam tatha citte parinamo na labhyate. Cittena ciyate karmah, manasa ca viciyate, Abhinna laksana Vijnanena hi astau vijanati, drcyam kalpeti pancabhih." ; The Manas. The Alayavijfiana which sometimes, as is called the in citta (mind), is, preceding quotations, simply no more than a state of Suchness, allowing as such, itself to death, i. be influenced by the principle of birth-andand there has in it taken e., by Ignorance ; place as yet no "awakening" or "stirring is up" When from which results a consciousness. (vttti), Manas the evolved, however, we have a sign of mentality there- by set in motion, for the Manas, according to Mahayanists, marks the dawn of consciousness the in the universe. The Manas, deriving from the Citta or Alaya, an external distinction world, between be itself, self-reflecting, reflects me and the when is in a conscious it sense center and the Alaya this nothing but an unfoldment said really to discriminates between sub- not yet conscious is latter comes The Alaya to the of self-consciousness. (or Citta) are not two to realise perhaps to Kantian "ego of transcendental apperception"; while the actual of the But since Manas must be the state of self-awareness. compared as well as on it not- me. If the Alaya ject and object. of itself, the Manas is, as the be on and becomes not-I or external world of the Alaya reason of consciousness its is Manas is the But the Manas different things in the sense that one emanates from the other or that one by the is created other. It is better to under- CHAPTER VI. 133 stand the Manas as a state or condition of the Citta in its evolution. Manas Now, the of capable the to of and awakens the desire to cling harbors egoism, it individuation, wills it ; contemplative, but and creates principle of birth-and-death, forever Therefore, departed. marks the beginning of concrete, really : for there is and the absolute identity of Suchness in its full force, here It prejudice the Ignorance, is not only volition. state passion, is the Manas particularising consciousness-waves in the eternal ocean of the All- Conserving Mind. The mind which was hitherto indifferent and neutral here acquires a full consciousness ; ego and non-ego; feels pain and pleasure clings to that which is agreeable and shrinks from that which is disagreeable urges activities between discriminates ; ; according to judgments, false or truthful; memorises in what has been experienced, and stores it all: mentation come into play with the awakening of the Manas. According to Agvaghosa, with the evolution of Manas the modes the all short, there of arise five activities which characterise are motility ( i ) : karma; to (5) the (2) respond ; , that power (4) the is important psychical human mind. They the capability of to perceive; power Through Manas is individuality. the to (3) creating the discriminate power ; and the exercise of these five able to create functions, the to to be a perceiving subject, to respond to its will, according the stimuli of an external world, to deliver judgments CHAPTER 134 over what retain to it all VI. and what likes it and to mature them the for and dislikes, own "karma-seeds" its in finally the past according future, to circumstances. With the advent of the Manas, the the Citta tion The is complete. Practically, it is evolution of the of mentality, for self-consciousness will and the can affirm its is ripe now. ego-centric, dualistic activities, can exercise intellect consumma- its discriminating, rea- soning, and image-retaining faculties. The Manas now becomes the center of psychic coordination. It receiv- messages from the six senses and pronounces over the impressions whatever judgments, intellectual or volitional, which are needed at the time for its es own and, conservation. It also reflects there perceiving to the on its presence own sanctum, of the Alaya, the conclusion that herein lies wrongfully jumps the real, ultimate ego-soul, from which it derives the notions of authority, unity, and permanency. As is evident, the Manas is a double-edged sword. It may destroy conception, or itself it by clinging to the error of ego- may, by a judicious exercise of its reasoning faculty, destroy all the misconceptions that arise from a wrong interpretation of the principle of The Manas destroys itself by being overwhelmed by the dualism of ego and alter, by taking them for final, irreducible realities, and by thus fosIgnorance. tering absolute ego-centric thoughts making religiously and desires, and by a willing prey of an indomitable egoism, and morally. On the other hand, when it itself CHAPTER VI. 135 sees an error in the conception of the absolute reality when of individuals, in the dualism of raison the i. perceives a play of Ignorance not-me, when existence in e., Alaya which the that of d'etre Tathagatahood, it me and recognises essence of when Suchness, is it the in the cosmic realises mistaken for the ego more than an innocent and irreproachable of it Garbha, once at it is no reflection transcends the sphere of particularity and becomes the very harbinger of eternal enlightenment. Buddhists, therefore, in the evolution in faulty the do not see any error or evil of the Mind (dlaya). There is nothing awakening of consciousness, in the dualism of subject and object, in the individualising operation of birth-and-death (samsdra), only so long our as Manas keeps aloof from the contamination The of false egoism. ates every fiber and gravest error, however, permeof our mind with all its wickedness soon as the nature irrationality, as ution of the Alaya of the evol- wrongfully interpreted by abuse of the functions of the Manas. * is the A little digression here. It has frequently been affirmed of the ethics of Mahayanism that as it has a nihilistic tendency its morality turns towards asceticism ignoring the significance 1 of the sentiment and instinct It is killed, nor is they do not understand is true when perfectly agrees with Vedantism "If the killer thinks that he kills, if ; Wu Mahayanism : the killed thinks that he for this that one killed." (The Katopanishad, in non-action (Laotzean that the latter declares one does not kill, 19.) This belief II Wei} apparently denies the ex- istence of a world of relativity, but he will be a superficial critic who will stop short at this absolute aspect of Mahayana CHAPTER 136 VI. Though Mahayanism most emphatically denies the existence of a personal ego which is imagined to be lodging within the body and to be the spiritual master of does not necessarily follow that it denies the unity of consciousness or personality or individuality. it, it In fact, the most a assumption of Manovijnana by Buddhists conclusively proves that they have an ego in sense, the denial of whose empirical existence tantamount to the denial of the most concrete of our daily experiences. negated by them final, more to ultimate fully is is most facts persistently not the existence of ego, but But reality. we have What to discuss is this its subject chapter below devoted a special "Atman." The Samkhya Philosophy and Mahayanism If we draw philosophy a and between the Samkhya comparison Mahayanism, the Alayavijnana may philosophy and refuses to consider its practical side. As we have seen above, Buddhists do not conceive the evolution of the Manovijnana as a fault on the part of the cosmic mind, nor do they think the assertion of Ignorance altogether wrong and morally evil. Therefore, Mahayanism does not deny the claim of reality to the world of the senses, though of course relatively, and not absolutely. Again, "Tat tvam asi" (thou art it) or "I am the Buddha" this assertion, though arrogant it may seem to some, is perfectly justifiable in the realm of absolute identity, where the serene light of Suchness alone pervades. But when we descend on earth and commingle in the hurly-burly of our dualistic life, we cannot help suffering from its practical, mundane limitations. loss of the dearest, We we hunger, feel we thirst, we grieve at the remorse over errors committed. CHAPTER be an considered VI. 137 unification of Soul (purusa) and Nature (prakrti\ and the Manovijnana a combination of Buddhi Ahankara (intellect) or Mahat According to the Sdmkhyakarika (ego). the essential nature of Prakrti or, (great element) with is to use Buddhist phraseology, while of that Purusa is (i i), the power of creation, it is witnessing blind activity; (saksitvd) and (The Kdrika, 19.) A modern say, Purusa is intelligence and perceiving (drastttva). philosopher Prakrti the blended Geist in would will and when they are combined and make Hartmann's Unbewusste ; one, they (unconscious The All-Conserving Mind spirit). (Alaya) in a certain sense resembles the Unconscious, as the manifestation of Suchness, the principle is it of enlightenment, in its evolutionary aspect as conditioned by Ignorance; and Ignorance apparently Mahayanism does not teach the annihilation of those human passions and feelings. There was once a recluse-philosopher, who was considered by the villagers desires and to human have completely vanquished all natural ambitions They almost worshipped him and thought him to be superhuman. One day early in Winter, a devotee approached him and reverentially inquired after his health. The sage at once responded in verse : "A hermit truly I am, world-renounced Yet when the ground is white with snow, ; A A so false many them into chill goes through me and I shiver." conception of religious saintliness as cherished by pious-hearted, but withal ignorant, minds, has led some of the grossest superstitions, whose curse is Our earthly life has so many lingering even among us. The ills that the flesh is heir to limitations and tribulations. still must be relieved by some material, scientific methods. CHAPTER 138 the to corresponds The activity. VI. the as will Samkhya philosophy an is blind of principle avowed and permits the existence of two principles dualism independent of each other. Mahayanism is fundamentally monistic and .makes Ignorance merely a condition necessary * to the unfolding of Suchness what the Samkhya splits into two, together in one. So is the parallelism between and Buddi and Ahankara. Buddhi, Therefore, Mahayanism puts the Manovijnana, is intellect, de- adhyavasdya (Kdrika, 23), while Ahankara interpreted as abhimanas (Kdrika, 24), which is fined is as evidently self-consciousness. of adhyavasdya, "ascertainment," clear is divergence "judgment," of to the exact ; it dawn of meaning of opinion "determination," the English But the inner signification enough indicates the : "ap- equivalents of Buddhi awakening of knowl- shedding of on the dark recesses of unconsciousness so the edge, the light As a is some are prehension" chosen for it. there rationality, the first ; commentators give as the synonyms mati (understandthe jndnam, prajnd, etc or intelliwhich mean these, knowledge gence, being also technical terms of Mahayanism. And, as we have seen above, these senses are what the ing), last khydti (cognition), , two of Buddhists give to their Manovijnana, save that the That the Buddhist Ignorance corresponds to the Samkhya Prakrti can be seen also from the fact that some Samkhya commentators give to Prakrti as its synonyms such terms as fdktt (energy) which reminds of karma or sankara, tamas (darkness), mayd, and even the very word avidya (ignorance) 1 CHAPTER latter has addition in 139 VI. the faculty of discriminating between teum and meum, while in the Samkhya this is reserved for Ahankara. Thus, here, too, in place of the Samkhya Another we have the Buddhist unity. we have to take notice here in dualism, point comparing the two great Hindu religio-philosophical systems, the that is Samkhya philosophy pluralises the Soul (purusa, Kdrika, 18), while Buddhism postulates one universal Citta or Alaya. According to the followers of Kapila, many souls as there therefore, are there must be as and individuals, at every must be departure or advent of an individual there assumed a corresponding soul passing away or coming into existence, though we do not know its whence and whither. Buddhism, on the other hand, denies the existence of any individual mind apart from the AllConserving Mind (Alaya] which The universal. Individu- appears awakening of the Manovijnana. quintessence of the Mind is Suchness and is not subject to the limitations as the law of causation. itself itself in the world of time and space as well But as soon as of particularisation, becoming and, thereby, to individual souls 1 is at the ality first specialised, it it asserts negates gives rise ' This view of the oneness of the Alaya or Citta (mind) not be acceptable to some Mahayanists, particularly to those who advocate the Yogacara philosophy but the present may ; author typical here trying to expound a more orthodox and more and therefore more widely-recognised doctrine of is Mahayanism, i. e.. that of Acvaghosa. CHAPTER VII. THE THEORY OF NON-ATMAN OR NON-EGO. TF I am of requested to formulate the ground-principles of the philosophy indeed, of all Mahayana Buddhism, and, the schools of Buddhism, gest the following (1) All is I would sug- : momentary (sarvam ksanikam), (2) All is empty (sarvam $unyam). (3) All is All is without self (sarvam andtmam). such as it is (sarvam tathdtvam). (4) These four tenets, as related that, stand one and the same or it fall, were, are so closely interinevitably share all they Whatever fate together. views the various schools of Buddhism points of minor importance, they all different hold on may concur at least on these four principal propositions. Of these four the propositions, first, the second, and the fourth have been elucidated above, more or If the existence of a relative world less explicitly. work of ignorance and reality, it must be considered is as the though account it does our life not is illusory necessarily not worth such has no follow living. final and empty on this ; that We must not CHAPTER confuse moral the VII. 141 of existence with the on- value problem of its phenomenality. It all depends on our subjective attitude whether or not our world and life become full of significance When the illu- tological siveness or phenomenality of individual existences is and we use the world accordingly, that is, granted "as not abusing it," we escape the error and curse of egoism and take things as they are presented to us, as more forms to cling Dharma the reflecting of of Suchness. particularity as We no something ultimate and absolutely real and as that in which lies the essence of our they are, and We life. recognise take lies and do not go any not hidden behind further. them, for such as reality only in so far their as they are considered a partial ness, them realisation of Such- Suchness, indeed, but exists immanently Things are empty and illusory so long as they are particular things and are not thought of in reference to the All that is Suchness and Reality. in them. From it this, of relativity all is logically follows that in this world momentary, that nothing is permanent, so far as isolated, particular existences are concerned.' Even independently of the statement the doctrine of universal impermanency self-evident not require validity. any The opment of the has is an almost truth experienced everywhere, and does special demonstration to prove desire for conspicuous and persistent desire made above, immortality which so in all the stages of devel- religious consciousness that the been thought is its to very be the essence of all CHAPTER 142 on things becoming, and in be this a in naturally Why changeable? a as granted we experience, constant of fact flux of "Why so fleeting? everyday are things so What is it mutable and transitory?" To things the Buddhist's answer is: Because the universe this, a are so resultant product of efficient forces that many the according to different karmas those forces being that no one force or one set of forces can constantly be predominant acting destiny no over all ; of when one has exhausted the others, but that karma, potential has been steadily Hence the it is replaced by another that coming forward cadence in the there attraction, centripetal force, Because it is moment of birth neck of rhythmic life. is the The of repulsion; there law the birth is of Where where the there there is centrifugal karma that is the force. at the very arms of death are around the universe manifestation to meantime. and death, of the tide and the ebb, universal of the spring and the fall, of integration and disintegration. in our ask: life is makes that its are that there is nothing permanent or our individual existences; if otherwise, would never have sought for immortality. people is the most conclusive proof that earth this stationary If is. systems, religious VII. of is nothing but a grand certain forces working their conformity predetermined laws; or, to use Buddhist terminology, this lokadhdtu (material world) consists in a concatenation of hetus (causes) and pratyayas (conditions) regulated by their karma. CHAPTER were not this If VII. 143 would be either a certain so, there which perfect equilibrium things would be maintained, or an inexpressible confusion of things of which no knowledge or experience fixed of state would have in be possible. the In former case, latter case, nothing but absolute chaos. we have the world before be cannot the Now, is non-ego relations Therefore, so long as us, in which all the otherwise than in a state of and therefore of universal vicissitudes Buddhist this If : obtaining sometimes act should of particularisation are manifested varieties possible it we stagnation and eternal death; in the there would be no universe, no life, universal in argument transitoriness. the for individual existences between diverse unison with constant theory of are due to which forces, sometimes and in opposition to one another as predetermined by their karma, they cannot be said to have any transcendental agency behind them, which is a permanent unity and absolute dictator. In other words, there is no atman no or ego-soul behind our mental activities, and thing-in-itself (svabhdva), so to speak, behind each particular form of existence. This is called the Buddhist theory of non-atman or non-ego. Atman Buddhists first, 1 use the term "atman" in the sense of personal ego, Pudgala or pudgalasamjna yanists as a synonym is of atman. ! in two senses and secondly, : in sometimes used by Maha- The Buddhist atman in the CHAPTER 144 of that use with a slight modifiaccepted meaning. Let us thing-in-itself, perhaps, of cation VII. commonly its "atman term the to equivalent " here bhutalman, in for its we treat of the doctrine of non-ego, first sense are going and first as to later of that of no-thing-in-itself. Atman and usually translated "life," "ego," or "soul," is and philosophers the at the used is does that they When later one, which self not is in its used both But we Buddhists. beginning the same sense. cially term technical a is ' by Vedanta have to note do not use the term in the Vedanta philosophy, espe- speaks of atman as our inmost identical with the universal Brahma, it most abstract metaphysical sense and mean the soul whatever, as the latter is sense of ego-substratum may be considered to correspond to the Vedantist Jivatman, which is used in contradistinction to Paramatman, the supreme being or Brahma. 1 Mahayana Buddhists generally understand the essential atman to consist in freedom, and by freedom characteristic of they mean absolute unity, and supreme authority. transitory is not free, as it is conditioned by and therefore it has no atman. being that eternality, A is is an aggregate being that other beings, A of elemental matter or forms of energy is not absolute, for it is a state of mutual relationship, and therefore it has no atman. Again, a being that has no authoritative command over itself and other beings, is not free, for be subjected to a power other than itself, and therehas no atman. Now, take anything that we come across in this world of particulars and does it not possess one or all of these three qualities transitoriness, compositeness, and helplessness or dependence ? Therefore, all concrete individual existences not excepting human beings have no atman, have no ego, that is eternal, absolute, and supreme. it will fore it ; : CHAPTER commonly understood by hand, Buddhists VII. 145 vulgar minds. understand On by atman the other this vulgar, conception of the soul (bkutdtman] and denies its existence as such. If we, for positively convenience' sake, distinguish between phenomenal materialistic and noumenal in our atman of Buddhism or soul, the the phenomenal ego, namely, supposed to do the acting, is concrete agent that a of ego notion is and feeling; while the atman of Vedantists thinking, noumenal ego as the raison d' etre of our psychical life. The one is in fact material, however the is ethereal might be conceived. The other it conception metaphysical human discursive knowledge. Paramatman Jivatman. The is a universal soul from which, Vedantism, emanates and in a certain sense this to according phenomena, it people mental is as the ego-soul as an it is independent activities. It is this world may be of said Buddhism. to correspond to the Tathagata-garbha of Jivatman be may latter Paramatman and the former with with identified a highly reach of is transcending the conceived by ignorant entity latter all the that was directing atman found to be void by Buddha when he arose from his long meditation, declaring "Many a life to Long quest, no : transmigrate, rest, hath been my fate, ! Tent-designer inquisitive for : Painful birth from state to state. Tent-designer is a figurative term for the ego-soul. Following the prevalent error, the Buddha at first made an 1 10 CHAPTER 146 know I "Tent-designer! VII. Never again to build thee now; art thou : Quite out are all thy joyful fires, Rafter broken and roof-tree gone, dead Gain eternity desires." l Buddha's First Line of Inquiry. \ Buddhism the in finds the source of material vulgar and concentrates all evils conception entire and sufferings of the ego-soul, upon the destruction of the ego-centric notions and desires. The Buddha seems, since the beginning of his wanits ethical force dering life, to have conceived the idea that the way of salvation must lie somehow in the removal of this egoistic liberated for prejudice, from its we curse so as long are liable to prey of the three venomous passions : we are not become the covetousness, and anger, and to suffer the misery of birth and death and disease and old age. Thus, when he received his first instructions from the Samkhya infatuation, philosopher, Arada, he was not not teach how The Buddha argued: did ego-soul, satisfied, abandon to because he this ego-soul itself. "I consider that the embodied though freed from the evolvent-evolutes, 2 earnest search after the ego that was supposed to be snugly sitting behind our mental experiences, and the result was this utterance. by A. J. Edmunds. term of Samkhya Prakrtivikrtayas. philosophy and means the modes of Prakrti, as evolved from See Satis Chandra Banarji, it and as further evolving on. 1 The Dharmapada, 2 Samkhya-Phzlosophy, vs. p. 154. Tr. 153 This a technical is XXXIII et seq. CHAPTER is still the to subject as is it 147 of condition the birth and has The seed may remain condition of a seed. mant so long VII. dor- deprived of the opportunity of coming into contact with the requisite conditions of quickening and being quickened, but since its germinating power has not been destroyed, it will all develop surely brought into that necessary so ego- soul long absolute free the as it is Even though contact. from entanglement bondage of Prakrti] is declared to be the soon as potentialities as its e. [i. from the liberated, yet, remains, there can be no ego-soul abandonment of it, there abandonment of egoism." The Buddha then proceeds can be no real 1 to indicate the path through which he reached his final conclusion and declares: "There is no real separation of the qualities and their subject for fire cannot be conceived apart ; from logically and form." heat its carried it out, When this argument nowhere but leads is to the non-atman, says: The"-' conceived cannot be of an ego-soul apart Buddhist existence that of doctrine from sensation, perception, imagination, intelligence, volition, etc., and, therefore, it is absurd to think that there is an To imagine from its that there that qualities, is individual independent which makes our consciousness an soul-agent its object workshop. can be abstracted not only logically but in reality, some unknown quantity that is in 1 The passages quoted here as well as one in the next paragraph are taken from A^vaghosa's Buddhacarita. CHAPTER 148 whereby (laksana) and such of possession VII. such characteristic makes it itself marks perceivable by our senses, says Buddhism, is wrong and unwarranted by reason. Fire cannot be conceived apart from its form and heat; waves cannot be conceived apart from the water and its commotion the wheel cannot ; exist outside of made are thus, and conditions, is impossible soul rim, spokes, axle, etc. All things, its and pratyayas, of causes of qualities and attributes; and it of hetus our for pudgala or atman or ego or to be any exception to this universal condition of things. me Let in connection this state an interesting incident in the history of Chinese Buddhism. Hui-K'e, the second patriarch was troubled with He was version. Confucianism of the Dhyana sect in China, ego-problem before his confirst a faithful Confucian, but this at did not satisfy all his spiritual wants. was wavering between agnosticism and scepticism, and consequently he felt an unspeakable His soul anguish in his inmost heart. When he learned of the arrival of Bodhidharma in his country, he hastened to his monastery spiritual word, tation. advice. and implored him to give him some But Bodhidharma did not utter a seemingly absorbed in his deep mediHui-K'e, however, was determined to obtain being from him some religious instructions at all hazards. So it is reported that he was standing at the same spot seven days and nights, when he at last cut off left arm with the sword he was carrying (being his CHAPTER a military officer) and placed "This arm is a token of VII. 149 before Dharma, saying my sincere desire to be it : Holy Doctrine. My soul is troubled and annoyed; pray let your grace show me the way to pacify it." Dharma quietly arose from his meditainstructed in the "Where and said: tion and have will I been searching succeeded in exclaimed: it this, across is your soul? Bring it here pacified." Hui-K'e replied: "I have it for all it a laying "There, I is these years, but hand on it." I have never Dharma then have your soul pacified!" .At said, a flash of spiritual enlightenment went the mind of Hui-K'e, and pacified once for his "soul M/ was all. The Skandhas. When the five skandhas are combined according to karma and present a temporal existence their previous in the form of a sentient being, vulgar minds imagine that they have here an individual entity sustained an by immortal ego-substratum. In fact, the material body (rupakaya) alone is not what makes the egosoul, nor the sensation (vedana), nor the deeds (sans- nor the consciousness (vifndna), nor the conception (samjna) but only when they are all combined kara), ; in this a form they make a sentient being. Yet combination is not the work of a certain indecertain pendent entity, which, according to its own will, combines the five skandhas in one form and then hides itself in it. The combination of the constituent CHAPTER I5O elements, selves Buddhism declares, karma. their after VII. achieved by themnumber of is When a certain atoms of hydrogen and of oxygen are brought together, they attract each other on their own accord or owing to to bring own karma, and their The ego water. the two elements and make the them. Even so result is of water, so to speak, did not will is itself out of with the existence of a sentient it no need of hypostasising a fabulous ego-monster behind the combination of the five being, and there is skandhas. Skandha (khanda or in Pali) literally is it exegetists, is an * according to the Chinese called so, because our personal aggregate of the five constituent and, "aglomeration", existence means "aggregate' elements of being, because it comes to take a definite form when the skandhas are brought together according to their previous karma. The first of the individual five ity aggregates is is matter (rupa), whose essential qual- thought to consist in resistance. The material of our existence in the five sense-organs called indryas: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and the body. part The second skandha ' , is called impression (vedand), which sensation results or sense- from the contact of the six vijfianas (senses) with the visaya (external world). The third we called is to our conception. It is samjnd which corresponds by which the psychic power are enabled to form the abstract images of par- ticular objects. The fourth is sanskdra which may be rendered action or deed. Our intelligent consciousness, CHAPTER VII. 151 responding to impressions received which are either agreeable or or indifferent, acts accor- disagreeable dingly; and these bear acts fruit the in coming generations. Sanskara, the fourth constituent of being, comprises two categories, mental And (caitta) mental the prayukta). fundamental (mahdbkumi), evil (klega), and and non-mental is good (cittavi- subdivided into six : (kugala], tormenting tormenting minor (upaklega), (aniyata). It may be interesting to (aku$ala), indefinite enumerate what all these sankaras are, as they shed light on the practical ethics of Buddhism. There are ten fundamental sanskaras to belonging I category of mental or psychic activities the : cetana 2. sparga (contact), 3. chanda mati (understanding), 5. smrti (recollec- (mentation), (desire), tion), 6. 4. manaskara (concentration), (unfettered intelligence), good sanskaras are: ten . 8. samadhi I. adhimoksa 7. The ("meditation). graddha (faith), 2. virya 4. hri (modesty), 3. upeksa (complacency), apatrapa (shame), 6 alobha (non-covetousness), 7. advesa (freedom from hatred), 8. ahimsa (gentleness of heart), 9. pragradbhi (mental repose), 10. apramada (energy), 5. (attentiveness). The six tormenting sanskaras are as moha (folly), 2. pramada (wantonness), (indolence), 4. ac.raddhya (scepticism), 5. follows 3. : I . kausidya styana (sloth- fulness), 6. auddhatpa (unsteadiness). The two minor evil sanskaras are state of not being modest, or : I . arrogance, ahrtkata, or self- CHAPTER 152 and assertiveness, 2. VII. anapatrapa, being lost to shame, or to be without conscience. The ten minor tormenting sanskaras are (anger), 2. mraksa liness), 4. irsya (envy), vihimsa (noxiousness), krodha . pradaga (uneasiness), 5. upanaha 7. I : matsarya (niggard- (secretiveness), 3. 6. may (malignity), 8. cathya (dishonesty), 10. mada (arrogance). The eight indefinite sanskaras are: I kaukrtya (repent- (trickiness), 9. . ance), middha 2. (investigation), 7. 5. 3 vitarka (inquiry), 4. vicara (sleep), . raga (excitement), 6. pratigha (wrath), mana (self-reliance), 8. vicikitsS. (doubting). The second grand category of sanskara which is not included under "mental" or "psychic," comprises fourteen items as follows I prapti (attainment), 2. . : aprapti (non-attainment), sabhagata (grouping), 4 3. asanjfiika (unconsciousness), 5. asanjfiisamapatti (unconscious absorption in religious meditation), 6. niro- dhasamapatti (annihilation-trance of a heretic), 8. jati (birth), (vitality), (decadence), (name), n. (existing), anityata (transitoriness), 12. padakaya 13. sthiti 9. 14. (phrase), 7. jivita 10. jara namakaya vyanjanakaya (sentence). Now, skandha return to to called vijnana, is main problem. The the commonly rendered fifth consci- not quite correct. The ousness, which, however, vijnana is intelligence or mentality, it is the psychic is power of be discrimination, translated Hinayanists, by six sense. and in There many are, vijnanas or senses olfactory, gustatory, tactual, : cases it according can to visual, auditory, and cogitative ; according CHAPTER Mahayanism there are to VII. 153 eight vijnanas the manovij- : nana and the alayavijn^na, being added to the above This psychological phase of Mahayana philosophy principally worked out by the Yogacara school, six. is whose leading thinkers are Asanga and Vasubandhu. King Milinda and Nagasena Buddhist literature, Northern as well as Southern, abounds with expositions of the doctrine of non-ego, as it is one of the most important foundation-stones on which the magnificent temple of Buddhism is built. The dialogue * between King Milinda and Nagasena, among many reasons and very interesting for various of suggestive thoughts, and we have others, full is discussion of theirs concerning the of problem ego abstracted from the Dialogue. At their first meeting the King asks Nagasena, the following "How To is your Reverence known, and what is your name ?" U monk-philosopher replies: I am known as Nagasena, and it is by that name that my brethren in the faith address me. But although parents give such this the a name as Nagasena, or Surasena, Virasena, or Sihasena, yet this Nagasena and so on generally understood term, a designation in use. For there is no permanent is only a common self involved in the matter." Being 1 Vol. greatly surprised by this answer, the King The Questions of King Milinda, Sacred Books of the East, XXXV. CHAPTER 154 VII. upon Nagasena a series of questions as follows there be no permanent self involved in the matter, volleys "If who : is you members of the robes and food and lodging and neces- Order your when given? things gives to Who Who sick? the for saries who pray, it, is it is it who enjoys such who lives a life of Who is it who devotes righteousness Who is it who attains to the meditation? himself to ? goal of the Way, to the Nirvana of Arhatship? And who destroys living creatures? who is it takes what is not his own? who is it who lives an evil life of worldly lusts, who speaks lies, who drinks strong drink, who in a word commits any one Excellent who who is it the of even in this nor merit which sins five life? If work out dement; be that there that were a murder, l then it to you kill there is neither neither doer nor cause is of good or evil deeds; there result of good or evil karma. man so, their bitter fruit neither fruit nor is If we there are to think would be no follows that there are no real masters or teachers in your Order, that your ordinations are void. You me tell that your brethren in the are in the habit of addressing what the hair This the that is is last King Nagasena? you as Nagasena. Do you mean Order Now, to say that Nagasena?" query being denied by the Buddhist sage, asks: "Or is it the nails, the skin, the flesh, the nerves, the bones, the marrow, the kidneys, 1 This reminds us of the the Katha-Upants had; cf. passage quoted elsewhere from the footnote to it. CHAPTER the the heart, 155 abdomen, the spleen, the the liver, VII. lungs, the larger intestines, the smaller intestines, the faeces, the bile, the phlegm, the sweat, mucus, fat, oil that lubricates the joints, the urine, the or the brain or any or "Is it all or the all Nagasena ? Nagasena, or the is ?" Nagasena these questions, the King, having received uniform a is is ideas, or the confections (deeds), or the consciousness, that denial, ask as thus, of these, that the material form that sensations, To the pus, the blood, the the tears, the serum, the saliva, the exclaims a mere Nagasena is Nagasena that 1 may, I we excitement in can "Then, no Nagasena. discover empty sound. see before us ? l : Who then It a falsehood is the is Reverence has spoken, an untruth?" Nagasena does not give any direct answer, but that your quietly proposes Ascertaining that philosopher, he some counter-questions to the King. he came in a carriage to the Buddhist asks : "Is it the wheel, or the framework, or the ropes, or the spokes of the wheels, or the goad, that are the chariot?" To on is the king says, "No," and continues "It account of its having all these things that it this, : As cited elsewhere, Bodhi-Dharma of when questioned in a similar way, replied, Walt Whitman echoes the same sentiment 1 the Dhyana sect, do not know." "I in the lollowing lines: "A what is the grass hands could I answer the child ? child said, full How it to me ? fetching I do not know what with ; any more than he." it is, CHAPTER 156 comes under designation the understood generally common in VII. the term, use, of 'chariot.'" "Very good," says Nagasena, "Your Majesty has grasped the rightly even so it on account (constituent of 'chariot.' And just these things you about the thirty-two kinds of organic is questioned me matter in a human the meaning of elements all and the body, of being) generally-understood term, use, of 'Nagasena.'" five that I the skandhas come under designation in common Then, the sage quotes in way of confirmation a the Samyutta Nikdya "Just as it is passage from by the condition : precedent various parts that the its so is it when that of the co-existence of word 'chariot' is used, just we the skandhas are there talk of a 'being.'" * * To further illustrate the theory of earlier Buddhist literature, let me from the Jdtaka Tales (No. 244) The Bodhisattva a drink of non-atman from quote the following : said to a pilgrim. "Will you have Ganges-water fragrant with the scent of the forest?" The is pilgrim tried to catch the Ganges the ? Is Is him in his the sand the Ganges words "What : ? Is the water the hither bank the Ganges? Ganges? bank the Ganges?" But the Bodhisattva retorted, Is the further "If you except the CHAPTER water, the sand, the bank, where can you this Following VII. 157 bank, and the further hither find any Ganges?" argument we might say, "Where the ego-soul, except imagination, volition, intellec- is tion, desire, aspiration, etc.?" Ananda's Attempts Surangama Sutra the In Locate the Soul. to *, Buddha exposes the absurdity of the hypothesis of an individual concrete by subverting Andanda's seven succesattempts to determine its whereabouts. Most soul-substance sive people will who firmly believe how vague and see untenable critically is notion their examined as in personal immortality, chimerical of the and soul, logically when in the following case. it is Ananda's conception of the soul is somewhat puerile, but I doubt whether even in our enlightened age the belief There seem to be two Chinese translations of this Sutra, one by Kumarajiva and the other by Paramartha, but appar1 ently they are different texts bearing the same title. Besides these two, there is another text entirely in Chinese transliteration. Owing to insufficiency of material at my disposal I cannot say anything definite about the identity or diversity of these documents. The following discussion that is reported to have taken place between the Buddha and here, Ananda fasciculi is an abstract prepared from the of Paramartha's (?) Catena of Buddhist Scriptures an English translation of the Though this translation points the reader discussion which itulated. may is translation. from first first Beal and the second gives in the Chinese (pp. 2 86 his -369) four fasc. of thz Surangama. not quite satisfactory in many find there a detailed account of the is here only partially and roughly recap- CHAPTER 158 by the multitude entertained When Ananda body. Thereupon, ligent soul is that it see Buddha it resides within the says: "If your intel- the windows are thrown open that "we are able to see the outside garden It is the a similar way, considered is and woods. are sitting in the hall only and not to see the inside. outside in Reasoning that who us for impossible see to his. as to the locality this lecture hall is the interior first in only when is it asserts that the any better than resides within your corporeal body, how does not see your inside first ? To illustrate, it what we and is Buddha by the questioned of the soul, VII. to be why does not the soul body see the the within internal organs first such as the stomach, heart, veins etc. it however If ? it does not see the inside, surely cannot be said to reside within the body." Ananda now proposes to locating the soul outside the body. soul within the the therefore He problem by says that the candle-light placed without this hall. a like is Where the solve light room here shines everything is visible, but there are no candles burning, and prevails nothing but darkness. This explains the incapacity of the soul to see the inside of the body. But the Buddha argues impossible for the soul to be outside. soul feels may not be felt is when you, Ananda, If so, "it is what the by the body, and what body feels may not be felt by the no relationship between the two. The the that soul, as there fact, however, my hand thus stretched, you are conscious that you have the perception of is that see CHAPTER As it. far as there is a and the body, soul VII. 159 correspondence between the soul cannot be said to be the residing outside the body." The the hypothesis assumed by Ananda third soul hides itself man a is that behind the sense-organs. just put a pair of lenses over his eyes. Suppose Cannot he see the outside world through them? The reason why it cannot see the inside that is it resides within the sense-organs. But we eye, outside world. If ''When we have a Buddha: the says an over perceive the soul does is lens this lens as well as the hidden behind the sense- not see the sense-organ itself? organ, why As it does not in fact, it cannot be residing in the place it you mention." Ananda proposes another the stomach, many is heart, liver, orifices. Where we have we have so theory. "Within, etc. : without, the internal organs are, there but where we have openings, there is the Close eyes and the soul sees the darkness darkness; light. inside. the Open outside. The Buddha when the see you consider your eyes What do you soul, it sees the brightness say to this theory?" says: "If eyes are this and you take the darkness you closed for your inside, do darkness as something confronting or not? In the prevails a darkness, that first case, wherever there must be thought to be your interior organs. In the latter case, seeing is impossible, for seeing presupposes the existence of subject and object. Besides this, there is another difficulty. Grant- l6o CHAPTER VII. your supposition that the ejte could turn itself inward or outward and see the darkness of the ing the or interior brightness of the external world, it could also see your own face when the eye is opened. If it could not do so, it must be said to be incapable of turning the sight inward." The the soul ence, but as it is that the essence of understanding or intellig- is which middle, soon assumption as made by Ananda fifth not is which within, nor without, nor in the comes confronts the actual into existence as objective world, for it is taught by the Buddha that the world exists on account of the mind and the mind on account of the world. To this argument, comes the Buddha soul in contact tact cannot an the "According to your replies: must be said to exist before with the world ; have any sense. The it otherwise, the consoul, then, exists as individual presence, not after nor at the time of a contact with the external world, but assuredly before the contact. Granting this, we come back again to the old side, of the its Does the soul come out of your inor does it come in from the outside? In case difficulties first : alternative, the soul own face." Ananda interrupts: "Seeing must be able is done by the to see eyes, and the soul has nothing to do with it." The Buddha objects "If so, a dead man has eyes l He must be able just as perfect as a living man. : Cf the following which is extracted from the Questions of King Milinda (Sacred Books of the East, vol. XXXV, 1 CHAPTER to see things, but if Well, should it your be it he sees at if all, he cannot be dead. intelligent soul has a concrete existence, thought simple or compound be thought of as the filling in a particular spot only l6l VII. ? Should ? body or being present If it is a simple unit, when one of your limbs is touched, all the four will at once be conscious of the touch, which really means no touch. If the soul is a compound body, how can it distinguish itself from another soul? If the all body it is filling there will be no localisation of over, must be the case according to the first of a simple soul-unit. Finally, if it occusupposition pies only a particular part of the body, you may exsensation, as certain perience feelings on that spot only, and the other parts will remain perfectly anesthetic. these all All hypotheses are against the actual facts of our experience and cannot be logically maintained." For the sixth time, Ananda ventures to untie the Gordian knot of the soul-problem. "As the soul cannot located neither within nor without, it must be be somewhere in the middle." But the Buddha again futes this, saying: "This'middle* Should it be located where on the body ? is extremely as a point in space or If it is re- indefinite. some- on the surface of the body, 133): "If there be a soul [distinct from the body] which does of the eye were thrown down [if the eye were plucked out] could it stretch out its head, as it were, through the larger aperture and [with greater range] see forms much more clearly than before? Could one hear all this, then sounds better if the door if the ears were cut tongue were pulled destroyed?" off, or taste better out, or feel touch better if the if the body were n 1 CHAPTER 62 not is it it the middle; then within. is how space, If it is VII. if in is it the body, occupy a point in said to should that point be indicated? Without an indication, a point is no point; and if an indication is needed, it can be fixed anywhere arbitrarily, and then there Ananda this be no end of confusion." will interposes and says that he does not kind of "middle." The eye and tioning each other, there tion. The eye has comes mean the color condi- to exist visual percep- the faculty to discriminate, and the color-world has no sensibility ; takes place in their "middle," that but the perception is, in their interac- tion; and then it is said that there exists a soul. Says the Buddha: "If the soul, as you say, exists in the relation between the sense-organs (indryd) and respective sense-objects (visaya), should we consider the soul as uniting and partaking the natures their of these two incongruous things, visaya and indrya? If the soul partakes something of each, it has no two natures, the distinction between subject and object exists no characteristics of more. 'In its own. the middle' is If it unites the an empty word; that say, to conceive the soul as the relation is to between the indryas and the visayas is to make it an airy nothing." The seventh and final hypothesis offered by Ananda is that the soul is the state of non-attachment, and that, therefore, it But has no particular locality in which also mercilessly attacked it by the "Attachment presupposes the existence of beings to which a mind may be attached. abides. Buddha who this is declares: CHAPTER Now, should we consider the as not world, space, land, water, birds, beasts, etc. nothing to attach world really contact with of all tion ? If the external world does we cannot speak about non-attachment, exist, is 163 these things (dharmas} such as existing or not existing there VII. from the as the external how can we manage not to come in it ? When we say that things are devoid is, characteristic marks, that first. If they it amounts to the declara- non-existent. are But they are not non-existent, they must have certain characteristics Now, the external world some marks (laksana) and it must by certainly be considered as existing. There then is all means no room for your theory of non-attachment." At this, Ananda surrenders and the Buddha discloses that distinguish themselves. has his of Dharmakaya, which theory at some length in the we shall expound chapter specially devoted to it. * * * By way of a summary of the above , let me remark that the Buddhists do not deny the existence of the so-called empirical ego noumenal ego, which respond to the in latter contradistinction to the can be considered to cor- Buddhist atman. Vasubandhu in his on the Yogacara's idealistic philosophy declares that the existence of atman and dharma is only hytreatise and not in any sense in modern terms, this To ultimate. and real express the soul and the world, or subject and object, have only relative existence, and no absolute reality can pothetical, provisional, apparent, 1 CHAPTER 64 VII. ascribed to them. Psychologically speaking, every be one of us has an ego or soul which means the unity of consciousness; and physically, this world of phe- nomena is real either as a manifestation of one energy as a composite of atoms or electrons, as or sidered To what by is con- physicists. confine ourselves to the psychological question, Buddhism most emphatically insists on is the of non-existence soul-substance, a concrete, individual, whose immortality is so irreducible much coveted by most unenlightened people. Individuation is only not absolute. Buddhism knows how relative and the far principle carried out, and c6uld some religionists, consistently followers will not forget its stop and destroy the to and safely be where wall, almost adamantine to individualism. Absolute indivi- of dualism, as the Buddhists understand it, incapacitates us to follow the natural flow of sympathy; to bathe the in eternal of divinity which not only sunshine surrounds but penetrates us individual sought life to immortality after its ; which by some people; to escape the curse of is strangely to trace this fountainhead of which it drinks so freely, to rise rejuvenated yet quite unknowingly; consuming fire of Kala (Chronos). so much mundane To from the think that there a mysterious something behind the empirical ego and that this something comes out triumphantly after is the fashion of the immortal phoenix from the funeral pyre of corporeality, What I is not Buddhistic. would remark here in connection with this CHAPTER VTI. 165 problem of the soul, is its relation to that of Alayavijnana, of which it is said that the Buddha was very reluctant to talk, on account of its being easily conthe notion of the ego. The Alaya, as founded with was explained, is a sort of universal soul from which our individual empirical souls are considered to have evolved. The Manas which is the first offspring of Alaya is endowed with the faculty of discrimination, and from the wrongful use of this faculty the there arises in the as the ego, Manas the conception of the Alaya the real concrete soul-substratum. The Alaya, however, is not a particular phenomefor it is a state of Suchnes's in its non, evolutionary disposition and has nothing When concrete individuality. error of and lifts the Alaya, it in yet to suggest it Manas the its finds out its the veil of Ignorance from the body soon becomes convinced of the timate nature of the soul, so called. For the soul ulis not individual, but supra-individual. Atman and When "Old Man." the "Put away your exclaim an empty notion, a mere word ego without reality," some of our Christian readers may Buddhists the egoism, for the think that if there our personality will become : is or clearer is no ego, what individuality? as we will Though proceed, let become of this point us remark what Buddhism understands by ego or atman may be considered to correspond in many here that respects to the Christian notion of "flesh" or the 1 66 CHAPTER which "old man," acts. Says Paul theless live I and the life which interpreted hilated m." by I, all our sinful ii, never- ; but Christ liveth now in God, who live (Gal. of the flesh loved When 20.) in me and this me live I : by gave passage is the Buddhists, the "1" that was anni- through crucifixion, an ego-soul (atman) God the grace of source crucified with Christ not 1 Son of the faith of the himself for am yet ; the is "I : VII. ; is is our false and the "I" that is notion of living through the Bodhi, a reflex in us of the Dharmakaya. When contrast not Christians and advise put the spirit and the flesh in us to "walk in the spirit" and to "fulfil the lust of the flesh," that they understand terial by the flesh must be said it our concrete, ma- existence whose characteristic is predominantly and by the spirit, that which transcends particularity and egoism; for "love, joy, peace, longindividual, suffering, faith, meekness, temperance," and suchlike when our egocentric, atman- virtues are possible only made desires are utterly abnegated. intellectual than Buddhism is more Christianity or Judaism and prefers philosophical terms which are better understood than popular language which leads often to confusion. Compared with the Buddhists' conception of tman, the "flesh" speak lacks of its in perspicuity dualistic and exactitude, not to tendency which offensive to the Buddhists. is extremely CHAPTER VII. 167 The Vedantic Conception. the doctrine of non-atman Though is pre-eminently other Hindu philosophers did not neglect Buddhistic, to its acknowledge Having grown importance same the in our religious life. under similar cir- in soil cumstances, the following passage which the Yogavdsistha (which Upagama work, Buddhistic like am "I free art unreal ch. P., supposed to LII, 31, 44) is sounds almost am I the light of intelligence, O from the defilement of egoism. am I ! taken from be a Vedantic : absolute, am is bound by not I thou that thee, the seed of 1 egoism." The author sider body like? due Where shall we conargues so to be residing in this called, ego-soul, of flesh and bones? and what does it look then We to move our the vital a sciousness is (mahacitta). We the to : the body imagine to flesh one is but limbs, airs (vdtd]. manifestation the We of movement the great mind cease to exist, but extinction belongs Now, take apart what we (kayo). constitute thing, our the The personal existence. blood on with mentation (bodha) and is another, and so vitality (spandd}. ear hears, the tongue tastes, the eye sees, the 1 is think, but con- The mind Nirvikalpo 'smi ciddipo nirahankaravasanah Tvaya ahankarabijena na sainbaddho 'smi asanmaya (31) 1 68 CHAPTER thinks, but what and where Then comes the is VII, that conclusion : which we call "ego" "In reality, there ? is no such thing as the ego-soul, nor is there any mine and thine, nor imagination. All this is nothing but the manifestation of the universal soul which the light of pure intelligence." Ndgdrjuna on In conclusion, let me is ] the Soul. quote some passage bearing on the subject from Nagarjuna's Discourse on the Middle Path (chapter 9) 2 "Some say that there are : because there is something seeing, hearing, which exists even prior to those [manifestations]. Fpr how could seeing, etc. come from that which does feeling, etc., not exist? Therefore, must be admitted that that it being [i.e. soul] existed prior to those [manifestations]. "But [this hypothesis of the prior (purva} or inde- pendent existence of the soul could that being be known seeing, feeling, etc. ? If is if wrong, because] how it existed prior to that being could exist without seeing, etc., the latter too could surely exist without that But how could a thing which could not be being. known by any How 1 2 could this sign exist exist before it without that, and is known? how could Yatha bhutataya na ahammano na tvam na vasana Atma guddhacidabhasah kevalo yam vijrbhate. (44) The following is a somewhat free translation of the ori- ginal Chinese of Kumarajiva, which pretty closely agrees with the Sanskrit text published by the Buddhist Text Society of India. CHAPTER that this} [Are not without exist l69 VII. all things relative and conditioning one another?] "If that being called soul could not exist prior to manifestations all such as seeing, etc., how could them taken individually? it exist prior to each of "If is it the same soul that sees, hears, feels, etc., must be assumed it each that the of these manifestations. warranted by facts. [Because soul exists prior to This, however, in that is not case one must be able to hear with the eyes, see with the ears, as one soul is considered to direct all these diverse faculties at its will.] on the other hand, the hearer is one, and the seer another, the feeler must be still another. Then, there will be hearing, seeing, etc. simultaneously, "If, is which leads to the assumption of a plurality of souls. [This too is "Further, l against experience.] the soul does not exist in the element (bkuta) on which seeing, hearing, feeling, etc. depend. use modern expression, the soul does not exist [To in the nerves which respond to the external stimuli.] seeing, hearing, feeling, etc. have "If prior to them, they too have exists no soul that no existence as For how could that exist without this, and this without that} Subject and object are mutually consuch. ditioned. vidual that 1 The soul as it whatever. is has no independent, indi- Therefore, the hypothesis contends for the existence of an ego-soul prior reality The Sanskrit text does not give this passage. CHAPTER 170 VII. to simultaneous with, or posterior to, seeing, etc., be abandoned as is to fruitless, for the ego-soul existeth not." Non-dtman-ness of Things. The word "atman" is used by the Buddhists not only psychologically in the sense of soul, self, or ego, but also ontologically in the sense of substance or thing-in-itself or thinginess ; and its existence in this capacity strongly denied by them. For the same reason that the existence of an individual egoalso is soul is the such. is individuals, which, when ceases to be they reject the hypothesis of permament existence of an individual object as As there is no transcendent agent in our soul- so there life, as untenable, real no real, eternal existence of individuals but a system of different attributes, the subsist. torce karma of Individual is exhausted, existences cannot their inherent nature, but they are illu- by and will never remain permanent as such; for they are constantly becoming, and have no selfhood sory, though they may so appear to our particularising senses on account of our subjective ignorance. They are in reality cunya and anatman, they are empty and void of atman. Svabkdva, The term "sabhava" (self-essence or noumenon) is sometimes used by the Mahayanists in place of atman, and they would say that all dharmas have no self- CHAPTER essence, 171 sarvam dharmam nihsvabhavam^ which that say, VII. all to things in their phenomenal aspect are devoid of individual selves, that ignorance that is we it is only due to our believe in the thinginess of things, no such thing as svabhava or atman or noumenon which resides in them. Svabhava and atman whereas there thus are is used habitually by Buddhists as quite synonymous. What do they exactly understand by "svabhava" whose existence is denied in a particular object as perceived by our senses citly defined ? This has never been expli- by the Mahayanists, but they seem to by svabhava something concrete, indiviyet independent, unconditional, and not subject understand dual, to the law of causation (pratyayasamutpada}. It, there- fore, stands in opposition to gunyata, emptiness, as well as to conditionality. Inasmuch as all beings are and empty in their inherent being, they cannot logically be said to be in possession of self- transient essence which defies the law of causation. All things are mutually from and apart they are non-existent and cannot conditioning their relativity and limiting, be known by us. Therefore, says Nagarjuna, "If substance be different from attribute, it is then beyond 1 For "a jag is not to be known comprehension." independent of matter et cetera, and matter in turn 2 is not to be known independent of ether et cetera." 1 Laksyal laksanam anyac cet syat 8 Rupadi vyatirekena yatha kumbho na vidyate, Vahyadi vyatirena tatha rupam na vidyate. tal laksyam alaksanam. CHAPTER As there VII. no subject without object, so there is no for one is the condition is substance without attribute ; for the other. Does self-essence then exist in causa" whatever is subject to conditionality, is tion? No, by its very nature tranquil and empty." (Pratt ty a yad bhavati^ tat tac yad owes existence its conditions is gdntam svabhdvatak.) Whatever tp a combination of causes and without self-essence, and therefore is it tranquil (gdnta\ empty, it is it is unreal (asat\ and the ultimate nature of this universal emptiness is not the sphere of intellectual demonstrability, for within the human understanding ing its not capable of transcend- is inherent limitations. Says Pingalaka, a commentator of Nagarjuna "The on account of the thread the matting is : cloth exists ; on account of the possible rattan. If the thread own fixed, unchangeable made out of -the flax. its .be fixed, unchangeable from the it its could not be own made as in point of fact the cloth comes from the thread and the thread from the it must be had no had could not the cloth had If self-essence, But thread. self-essence, it flax, said that the thread as well as the cloth fixed, unchangeable self-essence. It is just between the burning and the burned. They are brought together under and thus there takes place a certain conditions, like the relation called phenomenon each burned, one so is that has all The burning and the reality of its own. For when burning. no absent the other with obtains is put out of existence. things in this world, they are all It is empty, CHAPTER without self, VII. 173 without absolute existence, they are like the will-'o-the-wisp." * The Real Significance of Emptiness. From be apparent that the emptiness of things (gunyata) does not mean nothingness, as is sometimes interpreted by some critics, but of it all these statements simply means will it conditionality or transitoriness phenomenal existences, it is a synonym for or pratitya. Therefore, emptiness, according the Buddhists, signifies, negatively, the absence of particularity, the non-existence of individuals as such, aniyata to and positively, the ever-changing state of the phenomenal world, a constant flux of becoming, an eternal series of causes and effects. It must never be understood in the sense of annihilation or absolute nothing-* ness, for nihilism is for all doctrinal controversies, but those as a remedy who in turn cling to A medicine after much condemned by Buddhism "The Buddha proclaimed emptiness as naive realism. disease as is emptiness are beyond treatment." as indispensable to heal, but it long as there turns poisonous the restoration of perfect health. point completely clear, let me is a when applied To make this quote the following from Nagarjuna's Mddhyamika fastra (Chap. XXIV). [Some one may object to the Buddhist doctrine of u emptiness, 1 declaring:] If all is void {gunya) and Abstracted from Pingalaka's Commentary on the Mddhyamika Chapter VII. The Chinese translation is by Kumarajiva. astra, CHAPTER there neither creation nor destruction, then is concluded be does not exist, VII. exist. the even the that must it Fourfold Noble Truth the Fourfold Noble Truth does not If of Suffering, the stoppage of attainment of Cessation, and the recognition the Accumulation, advancement of all Discipline, must be said to be unrealisable. If they are altogether unrealisable, there cannot without will be any of the four states of saintliness and these states there cannot be anybody who ; then is Sangha them. for aspire (saddkatma) Truth, and ; there are no wise men, the Further, as there impossible. Noble Fourfold If there there as is is no neither is no Good Law Good Law nor Sangha, the existence of Buddha himself must be an impossibility. Those who talk of emptiness, must be therefore, (triratna) law the said to negate the Triple Treasure altogether. of retribution causation Emptiness not only destroys and the general principle of (pkalasadbhdvam), but utterly annihilates the possibility of a phenomenal world." "[To " this it is to be remarked that] annoyed over such scepticism who understands not the true significance and interpretation Only he is of emptiness (gunyata). "The Buddha ' 's teaching rests on the discrimination of two kinds of truth (satya) absolute and relative. Those who do not have any adequate knowledge of them are unable to grasp the deep and subtle : meaning of Buddhism. [The essence of being, dharmata, is beyond verbal definition or intellectual compre- CHAPTER and even is it there for hension, tionally, if not it tranquil, relative for unattainable, and The Nirvana. distances discriminates not, nor it frivolities, "But is it unto it, nature of fundamentally free from condi- is Suchness, tattva, 175 neither birth nor death in is like VII. when phenomenal all is it particularised].* absolute truth, absolute truth truth is not attained, is not to be gained. "The dull-headed who do not perceive the truth for they are like an rightfully go to self-destruction, Nirvana is awkward magician whose like trick entangles himself, or an unskilled snake-catcher The World-honored One knew of the Doctrine which is who gets himself hurt. well the abstruseness beyond the mental capacity of the multitudes and was inclined not to disclose it before them. "The objection that Buddhism onesidedly adheres emptiness and thereby exposes itself to grave for there are no errors, entirely misses the mark to ; errors in emptiness. of emptiness without that emptiness Because Why? all all things are at things will all on account possible, come Those who deny emptiness and find like a horseman who forgets that he "If is it fault is and to naught. with it, are on horseback. they think that things exist because of their (svabhava), [and not because of their self-essence emptiness,] they thereby causelessness 1 The passage make (ahetupratyaycC), in parentheses is things they come out destroy of those taken from Chandrakirti's Commentary on Nagarjuna, pp. 180181. CHAPTER 176 relations that exist VII. between the acting and the act and the acted; and they also destroy the conditions that make up the law of birth and death. "All is declared empty because there is nothing not a product of universal causation (pratyayasamutpada). This law of causation, however, is merely that is though herein provisional, "As thus there is is lies the middle path. not an object (dharma) which not conditioned (pratitya), so there is nothing that is not empty. "If all birth, not empty, then there is is no death nor and withal disappears the Fourfold Noble Truth. "How could there be Suffering, of causation? Impermanence is if not for the law suffering. But with self-essence there will be no impermanence. [So long as impermanence is the condition of life, self-essence which a causeless is out of question.] self-existent, then it could not existence, Suppose Suffering is come from Accumulation, when emptiness impossible when Suffering is is which is in turn becomes not admitted. Again, then there be could self-existent, no Cessation, for with the hypothesis of self-essence Cessation becomes a meaningless term. Again, when Suffering is self-existent, then there will be no Path. But as we can actually walk on the Path, the hypothesis is to be abandoned. of selfcessence "If there be said Suffering is that is "If there neither Suffering nor Cessation, the Path it must leading to the Cessation of also non-existent. is really self-essence, Suffering could not CHAPTER VII. 177 be recognised now, as it had not been recognised, for self-essence as such must remain forever the same. to is [That say, enlightened now teaching of Buddha, Suffering, though they they were still minds, recognise the existence of not recognise it when did uninitiated. If things were on account of their self-determining state the through a fixed, all in self-essence, would be impossible for those enlightened men to discover what they had never observed before. The it recognition possible when constant really of Fourfold Noble the this phenomenal world becoming, that is, when it Truth is only a state of is in is empty as it is.] "As with the recognition of Suffering, so it is with the stoppage of Accumulation, the attainment of it is Cessation, the realisation of Path as well as with the four states of saintliness. "If, on account of self-essence, the four states of were unattainable before, how could they be realised now, still upholding the hypothesis of selfsaintliness essence ? [But we can attain to saintliness as a matter of many holy men who through their have spiritual discipline emerged from their former life of ignorance and darkness. If everything had its own fact, for there are self-essence which makes it impossible to transform from one state to another, how could a person desire to ascend, if he ever so desire, higher and higher on the scale of existence?] "If there were no four states of saintliness (catvdri phaldm\ then there would be no aspirants for 12 it. CHAPTER 178 VII. no eight wise men (purusapungala\ there could exist no Sangha, "Again, when there could not be the Fourfold And were there if Noble Truth, the Law would be impossible, and without the Sangha and the Law how could the Buddha exist You might ? say 'A Buddha does not exist on : account of wisdom (Bodhi), nor does wisdom exist on But if a man did not have account of the Buddha.' Bodhi] he could not hope however Buddhahood, strenuously he might Buddha-essence to attain to [that is, exert himself in the ways of Bodhisattva. if all "Further, [i. e. all if ness], how is not empty but has self-essence, in a fixed, is unchangeable state of same- could there be any doing ? How could there evil ? If you maintain that there is an be good and effect (phala] which does not come from a cause good or is the practical conclusion of the hypoth- of self-essence], esis is [which evil, then it means independent of our deed, good or justified "If or it evil by our experience?] must then be admitted becomes must be then how said to could that retribution evil. [But that our deed is this good the cause of retribution, retribution come from our deed, good or we say there is no emptiness ? evil ; "When you of universal this is negate the doctrine of emptiness, the law causation, you negate the possibility of When the doctrine of emptiness remains nothing that ought to be thing is called done which is not yet phenomenal world. negated, done; and a there accomplished; and he is said to be a doer who has CHAPTER VII. 179 not done anything whatever. If there were such a thing as self-essence, the multitudinousness of things must be regarded as uncreated and imperishable and eternally existing which is tantamount to eternal nothingness. no emptiness there would be no were there "If would there what has not yet been attained, nor be the annihilation of pain, nor the extinction of all attainment of the passions (sarvaklega). taught by the Buddha that those who recognise the law of universal causation, recognise the Buddha as well as Suffering, Accumulation, "Therefore, it is Cessation, and the Path." * * The Mahayanistic down to transmitted * doctrines thus formulated and the present days are: There no such thing as the ego ; mentation is is produced by the co-ordination of various vijnanas or senses. Individual existences have no selfhood or self-essence or for they are but an aggregate of certain sustained by efficient karma. The world of reality, qualities particulars Buddha When of the work of Ignorance as declared by Formula of Dependence (Twelve Nidanas). is in his this veil of Dharmakaya dual existences Maya shines in then is uplifted, the universal light all its magnificence. Indivi- as such lose their significance and become sublimated and ennobled of in the oneness Egoistic prejudices are forever van- Dharmakaya. quished, and the aim of our lives is no more the / CHAPTER ISO VII. gratification of selfish cravings, Dharma as it of works its but the glorification own way through the multitudinousness of things. The self does not stand any more in a state of isolation (which is an illusion), it is absorbed recognises itself inanimate, and reach this in the universal in all body of Dharma, it other selves animate as well as things are in Nirvana. state of ideal enlightenment, to have realised the Buddhist life. When we we are said CHAPTER VIII. KARMA. Definition. TV^ARMA, ^^ or Sanskara which synonym, its shade of meaning, different is sometimes used as though the latter gives a slightly comes from the Sanskrit root kr, "to do," "to make," "to perform," "to effect," "to etc. produce," concrete as Both terms mean as in well its activity in its abstract sense, and form an antithesis to intelligence, contemplation, or ideation in general. When karma is used in its most abstract becomes an equivalent to "beginningless ignorance," which is universally inherent in nature, sense, it and corresponds Schopenhauer; is a to the Will or negative manifestation blind activity of we have seen above for ignorance as of Suchness (Bkuta- tathdta] and marks the beginning or unfolding of a phenomenal world, whose existence is characterised by incessant karma. actuated by the principle of Goethe says in Faust, "In Anfang war activities When die That," he uses the karma as it is When karma term "That" in the sense of here understood. is used in its concrete sense, it is the 1 CHAPTER 82 principle of namarupas in activity becomes it : VIII the in world of particulars or the physical world the principle of conservation of energy, in the biological realm that of evolution and heredity etc., and in the moral world that of immortality of deeds. Sanskara, when used as an equivalent of karma, corresponds to this concrete of signification it, as the case in is it the Twelve Chains of Dependence (Nidanas, or Pra- tyayasamutpdda).* Here follows ignorance (avidyd) it and precedes consciousness (vijnana). Ignorance in this case means simply privation of enlightenment, and does not imply any sense of activity which is expressed in Sanskara. It is only when it is coupled with the latter that it becomes the principle of activity, and creates as In mentality. one, their logical the emphasises first difference consciousness or being this activity are : the former epistemological phase and the latter ; between the offspring ignorance and blind or, we might dynamical. If we the ethical other its fact, first four say, one are to of is statical and the draw a comparison the Twelve Nidanas and the several processes of evolution that takes place in the Tathagata-garbha as described above, Ignorance 1 and the principle of blind we can take activity, san- The Twelve Nidanas (sanskara), (3) are: (i) Ignorance (avidyd), (2) action Consciousness (vijnana), (4) Name-and-form Six Sense-organs (ayatand), (6) Contact (spared), (namarupd), (5) Sensation (vedana), (8) Desire (trsna), (9) Attachment (7) (upddana), (10) Procreation (bhavd), (n) birth (jati\ (12) Old Age, Death, etc. (jara, marana, fo&a, etc.) CHAPTER in skara, the Twelve VIII. Chains 183 as corresponding to the All-conserving Soul (dlayavi/ndna), and the Vijnana, consciousness of the Twelve Chains, to the Manovijnana, and the to this visible world, visaya, in Namarupa which the principle of karma works in its concrete form. As we have a special chapter devoted to "Ignorance" karma equivalent of an as in its abstract sense, let us here treat of the Buddhist conception of realm of names and forms, the concrete sense. But i. e. of karma in in its shall restrict ourselves to the of karmaic causation in the moral world, as activity we we karma are not concerned with physics or biology. The Working of Karma. The Buddhist conception of karma briefly stated this Any act, good or evil, once committed and is : conceived, never vanishes like a bubble in water, but lives, potentially or actively as the case may be, in the world of minds and deeds. This mysterious moral energy, so to speak, every is it mind. act is and thought, embodied for it in and emanates from does not matter whether actually performed, or merely conceived in the When the time comes, and grow with all its vitality. it is sure to germinate Says Buddha: "Karma even after the lapse of a hundred kalpas, Will not be lost nor destroyed; As soon as all the necessary conditions are ready, Its fruit is sure to ripe," J 1 From a Chinese Mahayana sutra. CHAPTER 184 VIII. Again, "Whatever a man does, the same he in himself will find, The good man, good: and evil he that evil has designed; And so our deeds are all like seeds, and bring forth fruit 1 in kind." A grain of wheat, in is it said, which was accidentally tomb more good condition in a preserved thousand years old, did not lose its than a germinating energy, and, when planted with proper care, it actually started to sprout. So with karma, it is endowed with an enormous vitality, nay, it is even immortal. However remote the time of their commission might have been, the karma of our deeds never dies it must work ; out its own whatever destiny at by some counteracting force. cost, The if not overcome law of karma is irrefragable. The irrefragability of karma means that the law of our moral sphere just as much supreme as in the physical, that life consists in a concatenation causation of causes karma, a in is and that nation effects regulated nothing or the in life by the principle of of an individual or a race happens without due cause and sufficient reason, that is, Buddhists, do therefore, without previous karrna. not believe in any The special act of grace or revelation in our religious realm and moral life. The idea of deus ex machina in Buddhism. Whatever in our present 1 The life is is is banned suffered or enjoyed morally due to the karma, accumulated Pali Jataka, no. 222. Translation by W. H. Rouse. CHAPTER since beginning of the life VIII. on 185 earth. Nothing sown,/ nothing reaped. Whatever has been done leaves an ineffable in the individual's life and mark this exhaustion an of will is in that of the universe counter-karma. or ical own life- time, who may be physevil that men do not actualised during one's will in that of one's successors, it ; never be erased save by sheer karma or by the interruption of In case the karma the overwhelming of an act and even mark spiritual. Not only "the them," but also the good, for it will not be "interred with their bones," as vulgar minds imagine. lives after We read in the Samyukta Nikdyfr, III, I "Assailed by death, in life's last throes, At quitting of this human state, What is it one can call his own? What with him take as he goes hence? What is it follows after him, And like a shadow ne'er departs? "His good deeds and his wickedness, Whate'er a mortal does while here; Tis this that he can call his own, This with him take as he goes hence. This is what follows after him, And like a shadow ne'er departs. "Let A all, then, noble deeds perform, treasure-store for future weal; For merit gained this life within, Will yield a blessing in the next." 1 Warren's Buddhism in Translations, p. 214. ' 4 : 1 CHAPTER 86 accordance In with VIII. karmaic this preservation, Buddhists do not expect to have their sins expatiated by other innocent people so long as their own hearts remain unsoftened as ever. But when the all-embracing of Buddhas for love the smallest all sentient beings kindles even of repentance and enlightenment spark and when in the heart of a sinner, this ever-vacillating magnitude under propitious conditions, the sinner gets fully awakened from the evil karma of eons, and enters, free from all curses, light to grows - full its into the eternity of Nirvana. Karma and Social Injustice. w The doctrine of karma is very frequently utilised by some Buddhists to explain a state of things which must be considered cases of There are some noble social injustice. people who and destined to enjoy all are born rich and forms of earthly happiness and all the advantages of social life, though they have done nothing that justifies them in luxu- such a fashion any more than their poor These people, however, are declared by neighbors. some pseudo-Buddhists to be merely harvesting the in riating crops of former good karma they had prepared lives. On the in their other hand, the poor, needy, and low that are struggling to eke out a mere existence in spite of their moral rectitude and honest industry, karma previous are which lives. be considered to had accumulated been The law suffering the during of moral retribution is evil their never CHAPTER VIII. IS/ suspended, as they reason, on account of the changes which may take place in a mortal being. An act, good or evil, once performed, will not be lost in the eternal succession and interaction of incidents, but due consequence, will certainly find the sufferer of its and does not matter whether the actor has gone through the vicissitudes of birth and death. For the Buddhist conception of individual identity is not that it of personal continuity, but of karmaic conservation. Whatever deeds we may commit, bear their legitimate death. Therefore, sensual future births, not crops they have the themselves. life, The invariably the rich and noble neglect to pleasures, if they and follow us even after abandon themselves their duties or of if fruit then they in their thus to the present enjoyment sure are do life, in their to gather unwittingly prepared for poor, however hard their lot in this can claim their rightful rewards, if they do not despaired of their present sufferings and give themselves up to temptations, but dutifully continue get do things good and meritorious. Because as to present will fate is their the result of their former deeds, so be their future fortune the fruit of their present deeds. us This view as held by some pseudo-Buddhists gives a wrong impression about the practical working of the principle of karma in this world of namarupas, for it tries to explain by karmaic theory the phe- nomena which lie outside of the sphere of cability. As I understand, what the theory its appli- of karma I \ CHAPTER 88 proposes to explain and economic is not VIII. cases of social injustice inequality, but facts of moral causation. The overbearing attitude of the rich and the noble, the unnecessary sufferings of the poor, the over-production of criminals, and suchlike social phenomena from the imperfection of our present social organisation, which is based upon the doctrine of absoarise People are allowed to amass wealth unlimitedly for their own use and to bequeath it to the successors who do not deserve it in any way. lute private ownership. And they do not pay regard to the injuries this the general welfare of the incur system may upon / community to which they belong, and upon other * members individually. The rich might have slaughtered economically and consequently politically and morally millions of their brethren before they could reach places of social eminence they to now occupy and enjoy full extent. They might have sacrificed hundreds thousands of victims on the altar of Mammon in its of order to carry out their vast scheme of self-aggrandisement. And, what is worse, the wealth thus accu- mulated by an individual is allowed by the law to be handed down to his descendants, who are in a sense the parasitic privileged members of to live ers, who know who are daily the community. They are upon the sweat and blood of othwhere to lay their heads, and not succumbing to the heavy burden, not of their free choice, but forced upon them by society. Let us here closely see into the facts. There is one portion of society that does almost nothing toward CHAPTER the the general welfare, and there of promotion 189 VIII. is another portion that, besides carrying the burden not of its own, is heroically struggling for bare existence. These sad phenomena which, owing of tion social organisation, we us, should dual karma and make is we attribute them to the imperfec- daily witness about to diversity of indivi- individuals responsible for what due to the faulty organisation of the comwhich they belong? No, the doctrine of really to munity karma must not be understood certainly to explain the cause of our social and economical imperfection. The where the law of karma region work supreme made to extend our is economic not necessarily the consequence of is plenitude that of good acts. ciple of or needy economy is to world, and cannot be moral also over our is affluent made is field. evil Poverty deeds, nor Whether a person is mostly determined by the prin- as far as our present social system concerned. Morality and economy are two different realms of human activity. Honesty and moral recti- is tude do not necessarily guarantee well-being. Dishonesty and the violation of the moral law, on the conare trary, very material prosperity. conscientious can nay, it injustice is ? Shall karma understand social Do we handmaids of not thus see many good, people around us who are wretchedly poverty-stricken curse of evil utilised as frequently ? we take them as suffering the in their previous lives, when we the fact perfectly well as a case of It is not necessary by any means, even productive of evil, to establish a rela- CHAPTER between the two tion VIII. things that in the nature of have no causal dependence. Karma ought not to be made accountable for economic inequality. their being A man virtuous contented with his cleanliness is of conscience and purity of heart, Obscure as present and miserable social position, pecuniary conditions, he has no ward' and find there, nor his mind to look back- the cause of his social insignificance he anxious is is as are his present about his future earthly fortune which might be awaiting him when his karmaic energy appears in a new garment. His heart is altogether free from such vanities and anxieties. He is he sufficent unto himself as is here and now. And, as to his altruistic aspect of his moral deeds, he conscious that their karma would everybody that gets inspired by would largely contribute to the ness on this earth. Why, a karma poor theory of then, as is is well spiritually benefit it, and also that it realisation of good- must we contrive such maintained by some, order that they might give him a spiritual solace for his material misfortune? in Vulgar people are too eager to see everything and every act they perform working for the accumulation and the promotion of material welfare. They would want to turn even moral deeds which have no relation to the economic condition of of life earthly wealth into the opportunities to attain things They would mundane desire to have the law of karmaic causation applied to a realm, where prevails an entirely different set of laws. In point of fact, what proceeds from CHAPTER meritorious deeds of IQI spiritual bliss only, contentment, mind, meekness of heart, and immova- tranquillity of bility is VIII. the heavenly treasures which all faith, could be corrupted by moth or rust. And what more can the karma of good deeds bring to us ? And what more would a man of pious heart desire to not from gain his being what ye "Take no thought good? for or what ye shall drink, shall eat, your life, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat and the body more than raiment?" Let us then do away with the worldly of karma, which interpretation spirit is so contrary to the of Buddhism. As long it things, we as is live under present state of the impossible to escape the curse of social injustice and economic inequality. Some people must be born rich and noble and enjoying a superabundance wealth, while others must be groaning under the unbearable burden imposed upon them by of material cruel society. Unless we make a radical change in our present social organisation, we cannot expect every one of us to enjoy equal opportunity and fair chance. Unless we have a certain form of socialism installed which favored than phenomenon to the the liberal is and must be some who there die others. of worldly away sooner contrary, But is Dharmakaya this state of affairs and The law is manifested in is a doomed of karma, on an eternal ordinance of the as more economically institution or later. and systematic, rational are this will world of of I CHAPTER Q2 We particulars. of human VIII must not confuse a transient accident society with an absolute decree issued from the world-authority. An There Karma. Individualistic View of another popular misconception concerning is the doctrine of karma, which seriously mars the true interpretation of Buddhism. view istic the of deeds, good or mean by This evil, this an individual- view asserts that committed by a person determine own fate, no other's being affected thereby possible way, and that the reason why we only his in I doctrine. any should refrain from doing wrong have others, to conception suffer its evil karma which of I is: and not for we, consequences. This call individualistic, presupposes the absolute reality of an individual soul and its continuance as such in a new corporeal exist- which ence is Because an made by possible individual soul its here is previous karma. understood as an independent unit, which stands in no relation to others, and which therefore neither does influence nor done by oneself other by them influenced is people is have in suffered anything any wise. All that is by oneself only and no to do with it, nor do they suffer a whit thereby. Buddhism, however, does not advocate this individualistic \ in interpretation accord that of with the of karmaic law, for it is not theory of non-atman, nor with Dharmakaya. According to the orthodox theory, karma simply means the conservation or immortality of the inner CHAPTER deeds of force VIII. 193 regardless of their author's physical identity. Deeds once committed, good or evil, leave permanent effects on the general system of sentient of which beings, part ; and merely a component not the actor himself only, but every- is it actor the is body constituting a grand psychic community called "Dharmadhatu" (spiritual universe), that suffers or enjoys the outcome of a moral deed. Because the universe sentient is not a theatre for one par- only; on the contrary, soul ticular beings, each forming a it belongs to all psychic unit; and these units are so intimately knitted together in blood and soul that the effects of even apparently trifling deeds committed by an individual are felt by others just as much and just as surely as the doer himself. Throw an of insignificant piece of stone into a vast and water, it will certainly create an expanse almost endless series of ripples, however imperceptible, that never till stop much as may seem reach the furthest shore. thus caused tremulation as they is felt by the sinking stone the water disturbed. crude to The The universe that observers merely as a system of crass physical forces is in reality a great spiritual community, and every one of sentient beings forms its component part. This most complicated, most subtle, spiritual most and best organised mass of transmits its current of moral elec- sensitive, atoms tricity from one particle to another with utmost rapidity and surety. Because this community is at bottom an expression of one Dharmakaya. However diversified 13 CHAPTER 194 and dissimilar aspect, it may appear after is it all VIII. in its material individual no more than an evolution of one pervading essence, in which the multitudinousness of things finds its unity and identity. Therefore, it for the interests of the community at large, and is own not for their welfare only, that sincere Buddhists from transgressing moral laws and are encouraged to promote goodness. Those whose spiritual insight thus penetrates deep into the inner unity and refrain interaction of It with is all human this souls are called Bodhisattvas. spirit, let me do not wish to keep Buddhists repeat, that pious for themselves any merits created by their acts of love and benevolence, wish but liverance to of turn all them over (farivarta) sentient creatures from the darkness of ignorance. The most any treatise religious typical I significance dint of this merit And to I make them soon therefore, runs : of the three karmas as taught by Buddha, have thus completed elucidating and logic: By of concluding way by Buddhists, manner generally in the following "The deep to the de- in accord with the Dharma pray to deliver all sentient beings attain to perfect enlightenment." l Or, from this my exposition abide and be universally distributed among all beings may they ascend in the scale of existence and increase in bliss and wisdom, "All the merits arising May And 1 On the ; Completion of Karma, by Vasubandhu. Nanjo, No. 1222. CHAPTER And soon attain an to 195 enlightenment and far-reaching." great, VIII. supreme, perfect, l The reason why a moral deed performed by one to the attainment by others would contribute person of supreme enlightenment, is that souls which are ordinarily supposed to be individual and independent not so in fact, but are very closely with one another, so that a stir produced in intermingled one is sooner or later transmitted to another influencing of others are The karmaic effect of my own deed determines not only my own future, but it rightfully or wrongfully. not a to little extent invocations just quoted dedicate to all that of others; hence those by pious Buddhists who merits the can they desire attain to the general welfare of the masses. The and ever-increasing tendency of humanity to widen facilitate communication in every possible a phenomenon illustrative of the human souls. Isolation kills, for it death. Every soul that others, to be in lives intrinsic is oneness of another name for and grows desires to embrace communion with them* plemented by them, and to expand souls way is to be sup- infinitely so that are brought together and united all individual in the one soul. Under this condition only a man's karma is merits can be utilised for the promotion of general enabled to influence other people, and his enlightenment The Distinguishing of the Mean, by Vasubandhu. Nanjo, 12 48. CHAPTER 196 Karma and If the irrefragability of mination of our moral doctrine accumulated karma means the predetersome would reason, the and simple. is karma preserves chance whatever to escape evil. It the result its quite true is of the karma vitality there is no consequences, good or its also true that as the is It our previous existences, and that as in the long as life present Determinism. life, fatalism pure is our that VIII. meanest sparrow shall on the ground without the knowledge of God, and as the very hairs of our heads are all numbered not fall by him, so even a single blade of grass does not quiver before the- evening breeze without the force of karma. It is near-sighted into it of the complexity exists also true that if our intellect as its is, we could conditions reduce were not a possible under which our life simplest terms, and thus predict with mathematical precision the course of a life through it is destined to pass. If we could record all which our previous karma from time immemorial and all its consequences both on ourselves and on those who come in in contact with us, there would be no difficulty determining our future The human life with utmost certainty. however, as it happens, is incapable of undertaking a work of such an enormous magnitude, we cannot perceive the full significance of intellect, determinism; but, from the divine point of view, determinism seems to be perfectly justified, for there cannot be any short-sightedness world-soul as to on the part of a the destiny of the universe, which CHAPTER is 197 VIII. nothing but its own expression. It is only from the point of view that we feel uncertain about our human and endeavor to explain existence now final disposition from a mechanical, now from a teleological standpoint, and yet, strange enough, at the bottom of our soul we feel that there is something mysterious here which makes us "Let cry, either in despair or in trustful resignation, thy be done." While will will" proves that very confidence in "thy our inmost consciousness this we have in and outside the pale of intellectual analysis a belief in the supreme order, which is absolutely preordained and which not controllable by our finite, limited, fragmentary mind, yet the doctrine of karma must not be understood in the strictest sense of fatalism. As at least is far as a general theory of determinism is concerned, Buddhism has no objection a law of thought that causation, leaves of, to it. Grant that there is every deed, actualised or something behind, and that this factor for our future something becomes a determining life; how then "each of us is ous confidence we escape the conclusion that inevitable" as Whitman sings ? Religicould in a divine will that is supposed to give fact no more than us always the best of things, is in a determinism. But if, in applying the doctrine to our practical life, we forget to endeavor to unfold possibilities kened only after strenuous efforts, there will might lie in all the us, but could be awa- that be no moral characters, no personal responsibility, no noble the mind will be nothing but a reflex aspirations ; nervous system and life a sheer machinery. CHAPTER 198 karma In fact is VIII. not a machine which pable of regeneration and of mustard, grain of full being contact in a tree the vitality, it Karma self-multiplication. is a wonderful organic power; it grows, and even gives birth to a new karma. It a not inca- is of least grows all it expands, like unto is seeds, as soon as it but, comes nourishing soil and becometh so that the birds of the air come and lodge with the branches thereof. Its mystery is like that of waves that pass through all the hearts sympathetic which feel the great deeds of a hero or listen to the the in story of a self-sacrificing mother. Karma, is contagious and sympathetic rich crop. for good or evil, Even a most work. of goodness reaps an unexpectedly act insignificant in its Even to the vilest rogue comes a chance repentance by dint of a single good karma ever life, which has extended through many effected in his a kalpa. tual And world is and Nirvana the most wonderful thing in our spiri- karma thus bringing repentance the heart of the meanest awakens and that the to rekindles a similar hearts and leads karma potentially slumbering in other them to the final abode of enlightenment. Inasmuch as we confine ourselves to general, superview of the theory of karma, it leads to a form of ficial determinism, but in our practical life which is a product of extremely complicated factors, the doctrine of karma allows in us kinds of possibilities and all of development. ception of life, We we all chances thus escape the mechanical con- are saved from the despair of pre- determination, though this is true to a great extent ; CHAPTER we and assured are however remote it of may 199 VIII. the actualisation of hopes, be. Though the curse of evil karma may sometimes hang upon us very heavily, there is no reason to bury our aspirations altogether grave; on the contrary, let us bear it bravely all the acts of goodness to destroy the of evil and to mature the stock of in the and perform last remnant good karma. The Maturing of Good Stock (kugalamula) and the Accumulation of merits (punyaskandka). One well of of the most significant facts, which ignore while treating of the doctrine to afford is karma, we cannot the Buddhist belief that supreme Buddhahood only (Jakyamuni reached his practise of the six virtues of perfection (paramitds) many a rebirth. This belief constitutes the through very foundation of the ethics of after a long Buddhism and has all-important bearings on the doctrine of karma. The doctrine of Sentient beings karma can ethically considered attain to perfection not is this: by an intervention from on high, but through long, steady, unflinching of ideals, personal efforts towards the actualisation or, in other words, towards the maturing of good stock (kugalamula) and the accumulation of of merits (punyaskandhd]. This can be accomplished karma of good deeds untiringly practised throughout many a generation. Each single only through the act of goodness we perform to-day is recorded with 2OO CHAPTER strict accuracy and so is On much in the VIII. annals human of evolution the gain for the cause of righteousness. the contrary, every deed of ill-will, every thought of self-aggrandisement, every word of impurity, every assertion of egoism, is a drawback to the perfection of humanity. To speak concretely, the Buddha reprethe sents (Jakyamuni of the good all innumerable in in crystalisation the karma historical that person of was accumulated previous to his birth. kalpas as legend has him, was And if really the enemy of the Buddha, he symbolises in him the evil karma Devadatta, was that being stored up with the good deeds of Buddhas. Later Buddhism has thus elaborated to all represent in these two historical figures the concrete of good and evil karma, and tries to show results what direction in its followers should exercise their spiritual energy. The of doctrine of field. As karma is, therefore, really the theory and heredity as working in our moral Walt Whitman fitly sings, in every one of evolution "converging objects of the universe" are perpetually flowing, through every one of us is "afflatus us, the current and index." And surging and surging these converging objects and this afflatus are no more than our karma which is interwoven in our being and which being matured from the very beginning of consciousness upon the earth. Each generation is either retards or furthers the maturing of karma and transmits to the succeeding one its stock either impaired or augmented. Those who are blind enough not to CHAPTER 2O I VIII. \ see the significance of life, and those for the sole reality, who take their ego who ignore the spiritual those inheritance accumulated from time immemorial, are the most worthless, most ungrateful, and most irresponsible people of the world. Buddhism calls them Mara engaged the children of in the work of destruction. Dr. G. R. Wilson of Scotland states a very pretty u story about a royal robe in his article on The Sense of Danger" (The Monist, how cally illustrates out of mind is consciousness a potential karma stored from time saturated in every fibre of our subliminal or might say. The "An 1903, April), which graphi- the Alayavijnana, as Buddhists story runs as follows: in was, whose beginning was in prehistoric dynasty of which the hieroglyphics are Oriental robe undecipherable. so With it that pertinacity and durability characteristic of the East, this royal garment has handed down, not through hundreds of years, but through hundreds of generations, generations, been some of them, unconsciously long and others short and quick and merry. stale and dreary ; A garment of kings, and of queens, a garment to which, as tradition a prescribed, each monarch added something of quality, this, jewel of price, embroidery, worked and a patch of each with gold, a hem contribution of rich a legend, into the imperishable fibre, told the story of Did something of the personality of these kings and queens linger in the work of their hands? If so, the robe was no dead thing, no mere covering the giver. to be lightly assumed or lightly laid aside, but a living 2O2 CHAPTER VIII. power, royal influence, and the wearer, all unwitting, must have taken on something of the character of the dead. sensitive of It a princess of the royal blood, perhaps, is and mystical, trembling on the apprehensive monarchy, who dons the robe, and as she verge dons it, tingles to blaze upon its front are the souvenirs of bloody con- As she querors. emotion she message. These great rubies that its fingers them idly, she is thrilled with an not understand, for in her blood does something answers to the righting they embody. spirit are for peace. That rope has been strung Pearls kings and queens who favored by and learning; and as the girl's fingers stray towards them the inspiration changes and her mind reverts to the purposes of the legacy all her the an of maiden has unfaithful lifts it to shame and wrought this is queen, a gaudy hem, the steeped in intrigue murder ended her until life learns with Here scholar. civilised art examine it it; more and as closely, she blushes, yet not knowing what change in her, that, deep down in her character, are mischievous possibilities, possibilities of wickedness and disgrace that will dog the footsteps of her reign. Suchlike are the suggestions which the hidden parts of the mind bring forth, and in such subtle The of manner are they born." doctrine of karma thus declares love and good-will not for the appreciation ancestors your and selfish of that an act you are performing here is interests, but it simply means the works of your worthy the discharge of your duties towards CHAPTER 203 VIII. humanity and your contribution to the world- treasury of moral ideals. Mature good stock, accumulate merits, all evil purify cultivate karma, love of Nirvana for all remove the ego-hindrance, and beings; and the heavenly gate be opened not only to you, but to will the entire world. We of can sing with Walt Whitman the immortality karma and the eternal progress of humanity, thus : "Did you guess anything lived only its moment? so exist no part palpable or impal- The world does not pable so exist; exists without being from some long previous consummation and that from some other, Without the farthest conceivable one coming a bit nearer No consummation the beginning than any." * Immortality We read in the Milinda-panha: "Your Majesty, is it as if a man were to ascend the story of a house with a light, and eat there; and the light in burning were to set fire to the thatch to ; and the thatch and the house lage ; in in ; and the people of the and say, The fire 'Why, and he were to different 1 burning were to set fire to the house burning were to set fire to the vil- O village man, did you set say, did not set 'I lamp by whose one from the one which set of the "Manhattan's Streets quoted the whole poem, I were fire fire to the village ?' to the village. light fire to seize him, I ate was a to the village' ; Saunter'd, Pondering." I might have not for limitation of space. if CHAPTER 2O4 VIII. and they, quarreling, were to come to you. Whose cause, Your Majesty, would you sustain?" "That of the people of the village, Reverend Sir," etc. "And why?" man might "Because, in spite of what the "In exactly the the same way, Your Majesty, although name and form which ence different is end to at Therefore is and is is its Buddhist the karma. When velopment, tains in ditions new evil notion is it. deeds." of individual perhaps, is of illustrating this growth and perpetuation of in fact a concrete expression of a plant reaches a certain stage of de- blooms and bears fruit. This fruit con- a latent energy which under favorable congrows to a mature plant of its own kind. The it plant cessors sprung from and upholds that of karma. to follow the it is conservation, which denies the immor- The seed seed. it one not freed from one's Another good way, doctrine born into the next exist- from the name and form which tality of the ego-soul the is death, nevertheless, The above identity say, the sprang from the former." latter fire now repeats the processes which went through, of the plant is attained. and an The life its prede- eternal perpetuation of an individual plant cannot be permanent according to its inherent nature, it is destined to be cut short some time in its course. But this is not the case with the current of an ever-lasting vitality that has been running in the plant ever since the beginning of the world. Because this current individual in its nature and stands above the is not vicissi- CHAPTER VIII. tudes which take place in the It not be manifested in may but potentially time, of the of particular plants. life its kinetic form all the ever present in the being are simply a matter of form, Changes seed. and do not is it interfere with the current of life in the which plant, 2O5 is preserved in the universe as the energy of vegetation. This energy of vegetation is that which ed in a mature plant, that which makes in the springtime, it manifest- blossom that which goes to seed, that which apparently dormant in the seeds, and that which lies resuscitates them to sprout favorable surround- among This energy of vegetation, this mysterious force, stated in Buddhist phraseology, is nothing else ings. when than the vegetative expression of karma, which in the biological world constitutes the the or is other transmission law of heredity, of acquired character, or some laws which might be discovered by the bioloit is when this force manifests itself in the And gist moral realm of human affairs that karma obtains its proper significance as the law of moral causation. Now, there are several forms of transmission, by means of which the karma of a person or a people or a nation to eternity. or A a race is able to perpetuate itself few of them are described below. One may be called genealogical, or, perhaps, bioloare descendants of an illustrious here gical. Suppose ancestors distinguished themof whose family, some by bravery, or benevolence, or other praiseworthy deeds or some by selves intelligence, or faculties. These 206 CHAPTER VIII. people are as a rule respected by their neighbors as if ancestral their generations and spirits were transmitted through among their consanthem in the line might still lingering guineous successors. Some of have even been below the normal and morals, but intellect level in their does not altogether this fact the possibility and belief that others of their nullify some day develop family might the dormant the faculties possessed as by they appear now, through the inspiration they could get from the noble forefathers, examples of the past. The respect they are enjoying and the possibility of inspiration they may have are all work of the karma generated by the ancestors. or authors of the noble karma are all the The author bones have long returned to their no more, their concrete their gone now, elements, their ego-souls are individual personalities karma their the day of end left of is its time. still things of the past a black record behind them, the evil tenaciously its cling vitality it ; but was on generation and will so remain till the If some of them, on the other hand, the descendants as are here and as fresh as to the history of the karma will family, and have to suffer the curse as long kept up, no matter how innocent will is they themselves are. Here one important thing I wish to note is the mysterious way in which evil karma works. Evil does not turns will always out induce generate evils only; it very frequently to be a condition, if not a cause, which a moral being to overcome it with his CHAPTER VIII. 2O7 His being conscious of the very fact that his family history is somehow besmirched with dark spots, would rekindle in his heart a utmost spiritual efforts. flickering light of goodness. His stock of good karma would finally being brought into maturity, his virtues then eclipse the page before him, Everything in of the past and turn a evils which full is this world, thus, of bliss and new glory. seems to turn to be merely a means for the final realisation of Good. Buddhists ascribe this spiritual phenomenon to the upaya (expediency) of the Dharmakaya or Amitabha Buddha. d virtues of the To return to the further illustration to have subject. show been said about the that It does not need any these things which all family are also true of the race, the tribe, clan, nation, or any other form of community. History of mankind in all its manifold nothing but a grand drama visualising the Buddhist doctrine of karmaic immortality. It is like an immense ocean whose boundaries nobody of aspects existence is knows and the waves of events now surging, in all now times, swelling and whirling, now refluxing, ebbing, day and night, illustrate how the laws now we understand the following words of Tolstoi in the karmaic light which we gain from the Buddhist doctrine of more find we shall meaning in them perhaps immortality, than the author himself wished to impart: "My brother who is dead acts upon me now more strongly than he did in life he even penetrates my being and lifts me up towards him." 1 If ; CHAPTER 2O8 of karma are provokes and ever without eternity work at another in VIII. this actual life. a that third the losing and chain One act on to so of karmaic causation. we come Next, be called form of karma which might By this I mean that a man's to a historical. karma can be immortalised by some historical objects, such as buildings, literary works, productions of art, implements, or instruments. In fact, almost any object, human itself, or is however which, natural, associated with the memory insignificant in of a great man, bears his karma, and transmits it to posterity. Everybody is familiar with the facts that all literary work embodies and in itself the author's soul spirit, and that posterity can feel his living presence in the thoughts and sentiments expressed there, and that reader draws his inspiration from the whenever the work and actualises though reader, it in action, the corporeally must be said different times, pulsation of one and the thing is separate same author and the and living in spiritually feeling the heart. true of productions of art. And the same When we enter a gallery decorated with the noble works of Graecean or Roman right in we artists, the midst feel as if of these we were art-loving breathing people and in us the same impressions that We forget, as they did, the them. were received by reality of our particular existence, we are unconsciously raised above it, and our imagination is filled with seem to reawaken things not earthly. What a mysterious power it is ! the CHAPTER 2O9 VIII. power by which those inanimate objects carry us to a world of ideals away ! What a mysterious power that reawakens the spirits of it is a sheet indeed not by-gone artists canvas or in a piece of marble of entirely ! It on was without truth that primitive or ignorant people intuitively believed in the spiritual power of idols. What they failed to grasp was the between the subjective presence of a distinction and its objective and not feeling, were they Buddhist down was concerned, these facts unmistakably testify the doctrine of the immortality of karma. A force in is their works, bygone ages and the vibration with transmitted to the sympathetic souls to the present day. Architectural karma with no As spirit as their religious perfectly justified in believing in idolatry. vibrates full its far of .karma touched by mortals of chord still As their critical intellect, in all, all Taking reality. the would creations less force bear out the doctrine of than works of art and literature. uppermost bricks on an Egyptian pyramid on the ground with the same amount of fall energy that of Pharaohs ; required to raise them up in the times as a burning piece of coal in the furnace was dug out from the heart of the earth emits the same quantity of heat that it absorbed from the that sun some hundred thousand years ago even so every insignificant bit of rock or brick or cement we may find ; among the ruins of Babylonian palaces, Indian topes, Persian kiosks, Egyptian obelisks, or is fraught with the same spirit Roman pantheons, and soul that actuated 14 2IO CHAPTER VIII. the ancient peoples to construct those gigantic architectural wonders. The spirit is here, not in its individual form, but in karmaic presence. When we pick unseemly pieces, our souls become its these insignificant, to responsive singularly inspirations coming from those of the past, and our mental eyes vividly perceive the splendor of the gods, glory of the kings, peace nation, prosperity of the peoples, etc., etc. of the Because our souls of those visible karma of those theirs are. linked with the old peoples is still breathing its immor- those architectural productions and sending sympathetic waves out to the beholders. When in tality its we come thus of immortality Christians, where is "O to be convinced karma, where death, of the truth of the we can is truly exclaim with thy sting? O grave, thy victory?" hardly necessary to give any further illustration establish the doctrine of karma concerning its It to and causation through the medium of remains of ancient days. Because the karmaic chain is apparatus and instruments are an undying eye-witness of the genius of the inventors. All industrial machines and agricultural historical All significance. implements most concretely scientific testify the immortality of karma created by the constructors, as they are beneficial progress of humanity. to the in exact proportion general welfare and or machines or The instruments implements may be superseded by later and better ones, and possibly altogether forgotten by succeeding generations, but this does not annul the fact that the CHAPTER 211 VIII. improved ones were only possible through the knowledge and experience which came from the use of the older ones, other words, that the ideas and former inventors are still surviving in of the thoughts through those of their successors, just as much as in the case of genealogical karma-transmission. Whatever garb the karma of a person may wear down to posterity, it is ever there where tion Even felt. is in an article of in its its most way inspiratrivial even in a piece of rag, or in a slip of only let there be an association significance, time-worn paper, with the memory of the deceased imperceptibly feeling and beholder; if creeps the and an unutterable the heart of the deceased were known for his saintliness or righteousness, this for ; into would be an opportunity our inspiration and moral elevation according to how our own karma at that moment is made up. We now come to see more closely the spiritual purport of karmaic could activity. from what infer Any been has intelligent said reader above what important bearing the Buddhist doctrine of karma has on our moral and spiritual life. The following remarks, however, will greatly help him to understand the full extent of the doctrine and to pass an impartial judgment on its merits. looms up most conspicuously the characteristic difference between Buddhism and Christianity as to their conception of Here, if not anywhere soul-activity. conceives Christianity, our else, if I soul- phenomena understand as the it rightly, work of an CHAPTER 212 VIII. individual ego-entity, which keeps itself mysteriously hidden somewhere within the body. the soul a metaphysical being, and is To Christians, its incarnation imprisonment. It groans after emancicraves for the celestial abode, where, after in the flesh is it pation, can enjoy it bodily death, naked existence. It the blessings due to all the finds its nectar of immortality up in Heaven and in the presence of God the father and Christ the son, and not in the perpetuation of karma in universe. this the other hand, that is The eternally they have any soul. soul of the wicked, on damned, As soon if it is as it is conceded liberated from the bodily incarceration, it is hurled into the infernal fire, and is there consumed suffering unspeakable agony. believe the soul. in A once soul returns to Heaven or Christianity, transmigration it; it is departed either therefore, does or reincarnation from living the flesh an eternal not of a never life in suffering an instant annihilation in Hell. This is the necessary conclusion from their premises of an individual concrete ego-soul. Buddhism, however, does not teach the metaphysical All our mental and spiritual existence of the soul. experiences, karma which it due to the operations of efficiency from its previous declares, are inherits its "seeds of activity" (karmabtja), and which has brought the five skandhas into the present state of co-ordination. The present karma, turn the conditions while in "seeds of activity" grow its force, generates in which under favorable to maturity again. Therefore, as long CHAPTER as the force of there the are karma is 213 thus successively generated, skandhas constantly coming into five and working existence VIII. as co-ordinately so a person. to Karma-reproduction, speak, effected in this manner, is the Buddhist conception of the transmigration of a soul. A Japanese national hero, General Kusunoki Masashige, who was an orthodox Buddhist, is said to have uttered the battle-field complete House." following "I : will discharging And he words when he in fell the be reborn seven times yet and did my duties not utter these the for Imperial words to no purpose. Because even to-day, after the lapse of than seven hundred years, his spirit is still alive more among countrymen, and indeed his bronze statue on horseback is solemnly guarding the Japanese Imperial his palace. He was reborn more than seven times and will be reborn as long as the Japanese as a nation exist on earth. This constant rebirth or reincarnation means more nor no less than the immortality of karma. Says Buddha: "Ye disciples, take after my death those moral precepts and doctrines which were taught to for you in my own person, for I live in karma, and not as an ego-entity, conception them/' is To live the Buddhist of immortality. Therefore, the Buddhists agree with the sentiment expressed by a noted modern poet in these lines will perfectly : "We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not in breaths: In feelings, not in figures We on a dial, should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best." CHAPTER 214 Some may to like VIII. this call kind of immortality and impetuously demand that the egoinstead of soul, mysterious force of karma, should be unsatisfactory, made immortal, as it more is tangible and better ap- preciated by the masses. The Buddhist response to such a demand would be; "If their intellectual and not developed enough to see truth we shall let them adhere moral insight in the theory of karma, why, is as long as they please to their crude, primitive faith and rest contented with not make children Even the Buddha could it." find in pleasure abstract meta- physical problems, whatever truth and genuine spiritual consolation there might be in them. What their hearts are after are toys motto a of and fairy- tales Buddhism is : and parables. Therefore, "Minister to the patients We cannot according to their wants and conditions." make a plant grow even an inch higher by we have but to wait till pulling its roots ; it is ready development. Unless a child becomes a man, for must not expect of him The is artificially to put away we childish things. conclusion that could be drawn from the above obvious If we desire immortality, let there be the good karma and the cleansing of the heart from the contamination of evils. In good karma we maturing of are made to live eternally, but in evil one we are doomed, not only ourselves but every one that follows our steps on the path of evils. Karma is always generative one the ; is therefore, eternal appearance good karma curse. It was of the is infinite bliss, and evil for this reason that at Buddha in the Jambudvipa CHAPTER VIII. 215 heaven and earth resounded with the joyous acclamation of gods and men. It was a signal triumph for the cause of goodness. The ideal of moral perfection found a concrete example in the person of (Jakyamuni. It showed how the stock of good karma accumulated and matured from the beginning of consciousness on earth could be crystalised in one person and brought to an actuality even in this world of woes. The Buddha, therefore, was the culmination of karma previously stored up by his And he was at the same time the the fermentation of all the good spiritual ancestors. starting point for new karma, because his moral "seeds of activity" which were generated during his lifetime have been scattered liberally wherever his and teachings could be promulgated. That karma-seeds have been sown in the souls of virtues is, his all sentient are infinte moral to bear fruit, Good karma doers. it. number in will become a new centre of activity. In proportion begins while Every one of these seeds which beings. it protects itself Therefore, mortal, is but immortality it is it how destroys strong it grows and the seeds of evil a combined shield and sword, it destroys good karma is all that is against not only statically im- dynamically so; that is to say, its not a mere absence of birth and death, is but a constant positive increase in its moral efficiency. Pious Buddhists believe that every time Buddha's name is invoked with a heart free from evil thoughts, he enters right into the soul and becomes integral part of his being. This does not mean, however, that 2l6 CHAPTER Buddha's VIII. ego-substratum which might have been immortal spiritual bliss in the presence its enjoying of an anthropomorphic invocation of his God descends on name and renders earth at the in that capacity whatever help the supplicant needs. It means, on the other hand, that the Buddhist awakens in his personal karma which constituted Buddhahood that Buddha and nourishes constitutes it Buddhahood is to the in maturity. That which not the personal ego of the Buddha, but his karma. Every chemical element, whenever occasioned nation, never fails at the time of to befree itself to generate heat from a combi- which it absorbed combination with other elements and ; place no matter how remote the time of combination was. It is even so with the karma-seed this takes of Buddha. It might have been in the barren soil of a sinful heart, and, being deeply buried there for many a year, might have been forgotten altogether by the owner. But, sooner or later, it will never fail to grow under favorable conditions and generate what it gained from the Buddha in the beginning of the world. And this regeneration predominantly will not biological ; be merely chemical, but the law which it is for conditions the immortality of karma. PRACTICAL BUDDHISM. CHAPTER IX. THE DHARMAKAYA. have considered under (Bhutatathata) where any doctrine the Suchness of Buddhism," "Speculative appeared altogether too abstract to be of practical use to our earthly life. The theory as such it did on our not seem to have any immediate bearings religious consciousness. The fact is, it must pass through some fully satisfies our concrete spiritual in figure of mathematical needs. world that this since exactitude, As is in perfect there is it no a perfect type everything must be perceived through our more or physical organs before modification practical here less distorted even so with pure reason however it must appear to us more or less : ; itself, modified while passing through our affective-intellectual objectives. This modification of pure reason, however, is human necessary from the mere abstraction value for religious cravings point of view contentless, lifeless, our practical concepts lacking We is will life, not ; because and has no and again, because our be satisfied with empty vitality. may sometimes ignore the claims of reason CHAPTER 2l8 and rest IX. though usually unconsciously, which are conflicting when critically examined, but we cannot disregard by any means those of the religious sentiment, which finds satisfaction satisfied, with assertions only in some the very fact of things. contradictions flagrant was because it is the : name consciousness of first and when it attains consequence to it whether or not interpretation is fact, of faith, to be expense of reason. The truth at the religious ever harbored the in ever-pressing demands had its met with even If it that, is it logically tenable. If all demands not of its much intellectual on the other hand logic be all-important and demand the first consideration and the sentiment had to follow its trail without a our murmuring, aspect, turn lose its savory our existence would become tasteless, world would the void, would surely life be a mere succession of meaningless events, and what remains would be nothing else than devastation, barreness, and universal misery. The the truth is, in this life the will predominates and which explains the fact that existing religions on the one hand display logical inaccuracy and on the other hand a intellect while subserves ; all some mechanical explanation of the world more and more, part everywhere good is the for religion in is still is gaining ground playing an important our practical life. Abstraction is when it the exercises of the intellect, but question of life and death something more substantial and of theorisation. may It we must have more vitality than not be a mathematically exact CHAPTER and certain real living, but proposition, theory, that is, 219 IX. it it must be a working, must be a faith born of the inmost consciousness of our being. What practical transformations then has the doctrine of Suchness, in order to meet the religious demands, to suffer? God. is Buddhism does not use the word God. The word rather offensive to most of its followers, especially when the of it intimately associated in vulgar minds with is caused nothing, who produced creator a of idea downfall the the world out of mankind, and, touched by the pang of remorse, sent down his only son to save the depraved. But, on account of this, Buddhism must not be judged endorses the an universe. agnostic, Far as an atheism materialistic from it. which interpretation of Buddhism outspokenly acknowledges the presence in the world of a reality which transcends the limitations of phenomenality, but which manifests live is nevertheless itself in its immanent everywhere and full glory, and and move and have our being. or the religious object of Buddhism God which we in is generally Dharmakaya-Buddha and occasionally VairocanaBuddha or Vairocana-Dharmakaya-Buddha still another name for it is Amitabha-Buddha or Amitayurcalled ; Buddha, followers the latter two being mostly used by the of the Sukhavati sect of Japan and China. 22O CHAPTER IX. Again, very frequently we find (Jakyamuni, the Buddha, and the Tathagata stripped of his historical personality and identified with the highest truth and reality. however, by no means exhaust a legion of names invented by the fertile imagination of Buddhists These, for their object of reverence as called forth by their various spiritual needs. Dharmakaya. Western scholars usually translate Dharmakaya by "Body of the Law" meaning by the Law the doctrine set forth by (Jakyamuni the Buddha. It is said that when Buddha was preparing himself to enter into eternal Nirvana, he commanded his disciples to revere the Dharma or religion taught by him as his own man person, because a continues to live in the work, deeds, and words left behind himself. So, Dharmakaya came to be understood by Western scholars as meaning the person of Buddha incarnated in his This interpretation of the term is not very accurate, however, and is productive of some very serious misinterpretations concerning the fundamental religion. doctrines of Mahayanism. Law as the Historically, the Body of Buddha incarnate might have been the sense of Dharmakaya, as we can infer from the occasional use of the term in some Hinayana texts. the But as an with it is entirely the used by Eastern Buddhists, new significance, body of the Buddha. it has acquired having nothing to do religious teachings established by CHAPTER This transformation in the 221 IX. conception of Dharmakaya been effected by the different interpretation the term Dharma came to receive from the hand of the has Dharma Mahayanists. word and a very pregnant is wide range of meaning. It comes from the dhr, which means "to hold," "to carry", "to bear," and the primitive sense of dharma was "that covers a root which came to bears or carries "that signify or which forms the course of things," regulates and supports," that the then norm, it or "law," "in- is, stitution," "rule," "doctrine," then, "duty," "justice," "virtue," "moral merit," "character," "attribute," "essential quality," "substance," "that "being/' frequently The etc. etc., used for go may but when ; English exists," "reality," equivalent dharma by Oriental law or doctrine. This Pali texts which be most scholars is all right as far as the we wish to apply this inter- Mahayana terms, such as Dharmadhatu, Dharmakaya, Dharmalaksa, Dharmaloka, etc., we are placed in an awkward position and are at a loss pretation to the how are to the meaning at get passages in Mahayana of those terms. There literature in which the whole significance of the text depends upon how we understand the word dharma. And it may even be said that students one of of the importance of pretation remarks of the the many reasons Buddhism so frequently Mahayanism of dharma. Max due to Christian to recognise their misinter- Mueller, therefore, rightly in his introduction to Vajracchedika is why fail Sutra, an English translation when he says : "If we CHAPTER 222 IX. were always to translate dharma by law, it seems to me that the whole drift of our treatise would become Not unintelligible." but Mahayanism, its that only particular entire literature text of would become utterly incomprehensible. In Mahayanism Dharma means or "substance," or "being," in many cases "thing," "reality," both in its particular and in its general sense, though it is also frequently used in the sense of law or doctrine. Kaya may be but rendered "body," not of system, that in the Dharmakaya, in the unity, sense of personality, and organised form. combination of dharma and kaya, thus means the organised totality of things or the principle of cosmic unity, though not as a purely philosophical concept, but as an object of the religious consciousness original Throughout this work, however, the Sanskrit form will be retained in preference to any English equivalents that have been used heretofore for Dharmakaya conveys to the minds of ; Eastern Buddhists a peculiar religious when translated by either God flavor, or the All or which, some abstract philosophical terms, suffers considerably. Dharmakaya as As Religious Object. aforesaid, the Dharmakaya is not a product of reflection and is not exactly equivalent philosophical to Suchness has a religious signification as the object of the religious consciousness. The Dharmakaya is a soul, a willing and knowing being, one that is ; it CHAPTER IX and will intelligence, understood by the 223 thought and action. Mahayanists, not an metaphysical principle like Suchness, but spirit, that manifests itself in nature as It as is, abstract is it living well as in The universe as an expression of this spirit not a meaningless display of blind forces, nor is it an arena for the struggle of diverse mechanical powers. thought. is Buddhists Further, ascribe to the Dharmakaya in- numerable merits and virtues and an absolute perfect intelligence, and makes it an inexhaustible fountain-head and compassion; and it is in this that the Dharmakaya finally assumes a totally different aspect from a mere metaphysical principle, cold and lifeless. of love The Avatamsaka Sutra gives some comprehensive statements concerning the nature of the Dharmakaya as follows : "The Dharmakaya, though manifesting world, triple is free from impurities and itself in the desires. It unfolds itself here, there, and everywhere responding to the call of karma. It is not an individual reality, not a false existence, it is It comes from nowhere, not assert is forever of all it but is universal and pure. goes to nowhere ; it does itself, nor is it subject to annihilation. It serene and eternal. It is the One, devoid determinations. This Body of Dharma has no boundary, no quarters, but is embodied in all bodies. Its freedom or spontaneity is incomprehensible, its spiritual sible. it is presence in things corporeal is incomprehen- All forms of corporeality are involved therein, able to create all things. Assuming any concrete CHAPTER 224 body as required by the nature and condition material of karma, illuminates it of treasure There not Body forever contraries, yet them where in the universe universe remains. is it it is the working this Body but this free is It Though void of particularity. is it The prevail. creations. all intelligence, no place is does and IX. becomes, from all opposites in all things to lead to Nirvana." More Detailed The above Characterisation. gives us a general, concise view as to what the Dharmakaya is, but let ing more detailed description of may more clearly me it, quote the followin order that we and definitely see into the charac- Buddhistic conception of the highest being. 1 The Tathagata 2 is not a ye, sons of Buddha teristically "O ! particular nor has it dharma, nor a particular form of activity, a particular body, nor does it abide in a particular place, nor is its to one particular people. in itself bodies, infinite salvation of "O all ye, sons of in that obtain itself all The Avatamsaka 1 involves it activities, infinite and universally works for the Buddha! contains dra, fas. the contrary, infinite things. vacuums 1 On dharmas, infinite spaces, work of salvation confined It is like unto space. Space material existences and between them Again, it Sutra, Chinese translation by all s the establish- Buddhabha- XXXIV. That is the Dharmakaya personified. Hindu philosophy space is always conceived as an objective entity in which all things exist. 3 In CHAPTER es 225 in all possible quarters, itself say of IX. that it for space has it or is it is and yet we cannot not in this particular spot, no palpable form. Even so with the Dhar- kaya of the Tathagata. It itself in all places, presents in all directions, dharmas, and in all beings; yet the Dharmakaya itself has not been thereby particularised. Because the Body of the Tathagata has in all no particular body but manifests anywhere in everywhere and and condition of itself response to the nature things. "O ye, sons of Buddha! It is like boundless, comprehends in is itself yet shows no trace of passion so with the Dharmakaya unto space. Space all existence, and It [partiality]. of the Tathagata. is It even illumi- good works worldly as well as religious, but betrays no passion or prejudice. Why ? Because the nates it all Dharmakaya is from free perfectly all passions and l prejudices. U ye, sons O The of Buddha! benefits conferred by It is like unto the Sun. the light of the sun on earth are incalculable e. upon by nourishment to all trees, gives dispelling it vanquishes humidherbs, grains, plants, and grass all living beings darkness : g. it ; ity; 1 it illuminates ether whereby benefitting This should be understood in the sense that all the "God maketh sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." The Dharmakaya is universal in its love, as space is in Its comprehensiveness Because it is absolutely free from human desires and passions that are his the product of egoism and therefore tend always to be discriminative and exclusive. '5 CHAPTER 226 living beings in air whereby bringing full blossom; forms earth. it ; its IX. rays penetr ate into the waters forth the beautiful lotus flowers into impartially shines on all figures and and brings into completion all the works on Why? Because from the sun emanate infinite rays of life-giving light. "O ye, sons of Buddha It is ! even so with the Sun- the Tathagata which in innumerable ways bestows benefits upon all beings That is, it benefits us by Body of destroying evils, all good things thus being quickened to growth; it benefits us with its universal illumination which vanquishes t'he darkness of ignorance harbored in all beings ; it benefits us through its heart which saves and protects great compassionate all beings it ; benefits through its great loving heart which delivers all beings from the misery of birth and death it benefits us ; by the establishment of a good us we are benefits all strengthened us by giving which cleanses by helping whereby our moral activities; in it us a firm belief in the truth our spiritual impurities ; it benefits us to understand the doctrine by virtue of which we causation it ; all religion are not led to disavow the benefits us with a divine vision law of which enables us to observe the metempsychosis of all beings ; by avoiding injurious deeds which may destroy the stock of merits accumulated by all beings it benefits us with an intellectual light which unfolds it benefits us ; the mind-flowers of beings it benefits us with an we are enlivened to practice all all aspiration whereby that constitutes Buddhahood. ; Why? Because the Sun- CHAPTER Body of the Tathagata IX. 227 universally emits the rays of the Light of Intelligence. U O the sons ye, sun rising Buddha! of shines first When the day breaks, on the peaks of all the mountains, then on those of high mountains, finally all over the plains and fields; but the higher and shine on first and sunlight there is fields. make not the all ascending gradually plains does itself sunlight highest this I will thought mountains and then : higher and higher shine on the The reason why one gets the simply because a gradation of height on the surface of the earlier another than is earth. "O sons ye, Tathagata who immeasurable Buddha of It ! is even so with the innumerable and in possession of is suns of universal intelligence. The in- numerable rays of the Light of Intelligence, emanating everlastingly from the spiritual Body of the Tathagata, will first who the fall on the Bodhisattvas and Mahasattvas are the highest peaks then Nidanabuddhas, those beings as character, capacity who are they and finally on the (Jravakas, then on endowed with will unhesitatingly liverance, among mankind, then on definitely good according to his own embrace the doctrine of de- on each all common mortals whose may be either indefinite or definitely bad, providing them with those conditions which will prove But the Light of beneficial in their future births character Intelligence make this emanating thought: 'I from the Tathagata does not will first shine on the Bodhi- CHAPTER 228 IX. and then gradually pass over to all common mortals, etc.' The Light is universal and illuminates sattvas everything without any prejudice, yet on account of diversity that obtains among sentient beings as the the Light of them. diversely perceived by Intelligence "O ye, sons of Buddha When the sun rises above their to character, aspirations, etc., is ! the those horizon, born people blind, on account their defective sight, cannot see the light at they are it all, but nevertheless benefited by the sunlight, for them just as much as to any other beings gives necessary for the maintenance of life: it dispels dampness and coldness and makes them feel agreeable, it destroys all the injurious germs that are that all is produced on account of the absence of sunshine, and thus keeps the blind as well as the not-blind comfortable and healthy. "O ye, sons of Buddha ! It is even so with the Sun of Intelligence of the Tathagata. All those beings whose spiritual vision is blinded by false doctrine, or Buddha's precepts, or by ignorance, influences, never perceive the Light of by the violation of or evil by Intelligence; because they are are nevertheless benefited they disperses indiscriminately for all devoid of faith. by the Light ; But for it beings the sufferings arising from the four elements, and gives them physical comforts, for it destroys the root of all passions, prejudices, and pains for unbelievers as well as for believers. the . . By virtue of this omnipresent Light of Intelligence, Bodhisattvas will attain perfect purity and the CHAPTER knowledge of vakas will things, the all all destroy endowed and poorly Nidanabuddhas and views and those creatures ; of existence such animal realm, will and and believe in the four living in the evil paths as hell, world of ghosts, and the be freed from their be born will, after death, in the evils and torture human or celes- world .... tial "O ye, sons of like is (Jra- passions and desires; mortals those born blind will rid of impurities, control the senses, * 229 IX. unto the attributes: (i) satellites ; (2) outdoes in It It Buddha! The Light of Dharmakaya moon which has four wondrous full shows as observable in the its brilliance all stars in its size increase Jambudvipa ; and and decrease (3) Its reflection is seen in every drop or body of clear water ; (4) Whoever endowed with is "O ye, perfect sight, perceives it vis-a-vis. sons of Buddha Even so with the Dharmakaya ! of theT athagata, It eclipses the stars of the Nidanabuddhas, (Jravakas, etc. ; to shows (2) It which is whom due to it that has four wondrous attributes : (i) in its earthly life a certain variation the different natures of the beings manifests 2 itself, while the Dharmakaya The four views are: That the physical body is productive of impurities that sensuality causes pain; that the individual soul is not permanent; and that all things are devoid of the Atman. 2 That is to say: The Dharmakaya, that assumes all forms 1 ; what class of being it is manifesting sometimes conceived by the believers to be a shortlived god, sometimes an immortal spirit, sometimes a celestial being of one hundred kalpas, and sometimes an existence of only a moment. As there are so many different dispositions, of existence according to itself, is CHAPTER 23O itself in and shows no increase or decrease eternal is (3) Its reflection way; any IX. seen is in the Bodhi (intelligence) of every pure-hearted sentient being; (4) All who understand the Dharma and own mental each according to his they have really recognised in obtain deliverance, calibre, think that own way the Dharmakaya itself their Tathagata face to face, while the not a particular object of understanding, but univer- is Buddha-works sally brings all "O into completion. The Dharmakaya is like ye, unto the Great Brahmaraja who governs three thousand chiliocosms. The Raja by a mysterious trick makes sons of Buddha seen himself realm and has seen has never by universally them causes him face to divided his ! all living beings in his to think that each of face; but them the Raja himself own person nor is he in possession of diverse features. "O ye, sons of Buddha Even so with the Tathagata he has never divided himself into many, nor has he ever assumed diverse features. But all beings, each ac! ; cording to recognise his the and strength of faith, of the Tathagata, while he has understanding Body never made this thought that he will show himself to such and such particular people and not to others "O ye, sons of Buddha! The Dharmakaya is like . unto the maniratna in the waters, . . whose wondrous characters, karmas, intellectual attainments, moral environments, so there are 'as many Dharmakayas as subjectively etc., represented in the minds of sentient beings, though the Dharmakaya, objectively considered, is absolutely one. CHAPTER transforms light with to it become there a scription, 231 comes that everything own purified. is "O its IX. The eyes color. Wherever its illumination reaches, of sons Buddha! It is even so with the rightly be the treasure of treasures, the thesaurus of all Dharmakaya of the Tathagata, which may merits, and the mine of intelligence. touch with in same it marvelous display of gems of every dewhich gives pleasure to all beings to see. ye, called contact in that perceive this light, is all Whoever comes transformed into the Whoever sees this eye of Dharma. Whoever color as that of the Buddha. obtains the purest light, all comes touch with in this light, rids of suffering, attains wealth poverty and and eminence, enjoys the bliss of the incomparable Bodhi" Dharmakaya and Individual From these statements it is Beings. evident that the Dharmakaya or the Body of the Tatha^gata, or the Body of Intelligence, whatever it may be designated, is not a mere philosophical abstraction, standing aloof world of birth and death, of joy and sorrow, but calmly contemplates on the folly of mankind that it is a spiritual existence which is "absolutely from this ; one, all is real and true, beings, transcends desires and all struggles and forms the raison d'etre of modes of upaya, [or compulsion], is free and stands outside the pale of our finite understanding." 1 Asanga's samparigrahd). General Treatise on from Mahayanism. 1 It is (Mahay&na CHAPTER 232 IX. also evident that the Dharmakaya, though itself free from ignorance (avidya) and passion (klega] and desire (trsna), is revealed in the finite and fragmental consciousness of human being, so that a sense that "this body of mine though not absolutely that "the the body of Dharmakaya in the latter is ; and the is we can say in Dharmakaya" also in a generalised form beings is the Dharmakaya, and the body of all beings," though all only imperfectly and fractionally realised. As we thus partake something in ourselves of the Dharmakaya, we all are ultimately destined to attain Buddhahood when the human intelligence, Bodhi, is perfectly identified with, or absorbed Dharmakaya, and when our earthly realisation of the will of the that of the in, life becomes the Dharmakaya. The Dharmakaya as Love. us Here an important consideration forces itself upon which is, that the Dharmakaya is not only an intelligent mind but a loving a god of rigorism who does heart, that it is not only not allow a hair's breadth deviation from the law of karma, but also an incarnation of mercy that is constantly belaboring to develop the most insignificant merit into a field yielding rich harvests. The Dharmakaya relentlessly punishes the wrong and does not permit the exhaustion of their karma without sufficient reason and yet its hands ; are always directing our life toward the actualisation CHAPTER IX. 233 of supreme goodness. "Pangs of nature, sins of will, defects of doubt, and stains of blood," discouraging and gloomy indeed the Dharmakaya, the is infinite karma of in evil-doers ! But and goodness, love is to bring this world-transaction managing happy terminus. Every good we do is absorbed the universal stock of merits which is no more nor incessantly to a in less we than the Dharmakaya. Every act of lovingkindness practice is conceived in the womb of Tathagata, and therein nourished and matured, out to this world of karma to bear no is again brought its fruit. walks on earth with aimless feet life thrown into the or great fire no chaff unquenchable. Every insignificant, is Dharmakaya and of the ; Therefore, a as reflection is existence, of the glory such worthy of its all- love. embracing For further corroboration of random from a Mahayana at this view let us cite 1 sutra: "With one great loving heart The thirsty desires of refreshing all beings he quencheth with coolness ; With compassion, Which like of all doth he think, space knows no bounds; Over the world's all creation With no thought of particularity he revieweth. "With a great heart compassionate and loving, by him are embraced; All sentient beings With means all He doth 1 (upayd) which are pure, free from stain, excellent, save and deliver The Avatamsaka all creatures innumerable. Sutra, chap. 13, "On Merit." and CHAPTER 234 IX. "With unfathomable love and with compassion All creations caressed by him universally; Yet free from attachment his heart is. compassion is great and is infinite, on every being he confereth, And himself showeth all over the universe; "As his Bliss unearthly He'll not rest till all Buddhahood Mahay dnists' view of Later truly attains." the Dharmakaya. The above has been quoted almost exclusively from the so-called sutra literature of Mahayana Buddhism, which ical distinguished from the other religio-philosoph- is treatises of school, because the sutras are the considered to be the accounts of Buddha himself as recorded see by his immediate 1 disciples. Let us now by way of further elucidation what views were held concerning the Dharmakaya by such writers as Asanga, Vasubandhu, etc. We read in the General Treatise on Mahay dnism by Asanga and Vasubandhu the following statement : "When how have the Bodhisattvas think of the Dharmakaya, they to picture 4 'Briefly stated, they it will to themselves? think of the Dharmakaya by picturing to themselves its seven characteristics, which constitute the faultless virtues and essential This is by no means the case, for some of the Mahayana sutras are undoubtedly productions of much later writers than the immediate followers of the Buddha, though of course it 1 is very likely that some of the most important Mahayana canonical books were compiled within a few hundred years after the Nirvana of the Master. CHAPTER functions Kaya. all free, unri- Dharmakaya, which Think of the eternality beings (2) ; Dharmakaya absolute freedom from its and Think of the (i) perfect virtues in the all 235 activity of the manifested in of of the unimpeded valed, is of IX. all (3) ; Think prejudice, intellectual (4) Think of those spontaneous activiuninterruptedly emanate from the will of the affective ties that ; Think of the inexhaustible wealth, Dharmakaya; spiritual and physical, Dharma; Think of (6) (5) stored has no stain of onesidedness works achieved in the Body intellectual purity its (7) ; of the which Think of the earthly for the salvation of all beings by the who are reflexes of the Dharmakaya." As regards the activity of the Dharmakaya, which is shown in every Buddha's work of salvation, Asanga enumerates five forms of operation: (i) It is shown Tathagatas power of removing in his in the to cure such (2) as is It over course all of evils which may befall us though the Buddha is unable which we may have, life, defects any physical blindness, deafness, mental abberration, etc. shown in his irresistible spiritual evil-doers, doing some good the Buddha. (3) who, base as they if It are, cannot help presence of shown in his power of destroying they ever is come domination various unnatural and irrational in the methods of salvation which are practiced by followers of asceticism, hedonism, or Ishvaraism. (4) those diseased permanency, and in the It is minds shown in his believe that power of curing in the reality, indivisibility of the ego-soul, that pudgalavada. (5) It is shown is, in his inspiring CHAPTER 236 over influence IX. those Bodhisattvas who have not yet attained to the stage of immovability as well as over those (Jravakas whose faith and character are a state of vacillation. The Freedom Those spiritual of the beings of the enlightened mind of a through the which we have seen are Asanga, to According powers have constrained from flow from no immanent and human spiritual the- Body elaboration necessity, or, as any conscious, struggling sentient from by significance. those view, of stated of or I take it, The Dharmakaya does not make free will. its as but they are a spontaneous over- effort, its above emanating trace all religious Buddhist the everlastingly Dharma with fraught in Dharmakdya. over influences Dharmakaya Buddha, still creatures its blessings. If there efforts to innumerable were in it shower upon merits, all benefits, any trace of elabora- would mean a struggle within itself of divers tendencies, one trying to gain ascendency over another. tion, that And apparent that any struggle and its necessary compulsion, are incompatible with our conception ally, it is the highest religious reality. Absolute spontaneity of and perfect freedom is one of those necessary attributes which our religious consciousness cannot help ascribing to its ly object of reverence. Buddhists therefore repeated- affirm perfectly and that free internal. the from Its activity all every effort of the Dharmakaya is and coercion, external act of creation or salvation CHAPTER or love emanates from its IX. own in standing "free mankind. of will" limited, is such a which called This free will human and evident at best its seek any recompense for that is divine, own much very l As the Dharmakaya works of is which by the Buddhists the Dharmakaya's ''Purvapranidhanabala." does not unhampered contrast with our striking is free will, which characterises the by any struggling exertion doings 237 the of act every own accord its deed ; and Dharmakaya it it is always for the best welfare of its creatures, for they are its need. 1 and manifestations We it do not have to ask "Purvapranidhanabala" is must know what they for our "daily bread," frequently translated "the power original (or primitive) prayer." Literally, purva means ''former" or "original" or "primitive" and pranidhana, "desire" or "vow or "prayer"; and bala, "power." So far as literary of ; rendering is concerned, "power of original prayer" seems to be the sense of the original Sanskrit. But when we speak of Dharmakaya or Tathagata, how shall we understand it? Has prayer any sense in this connection? The Dharmakaya can by its own free will manifest in any form of existence and finish its work in whatever way it deems primitive prayers of the There is no need for it to utter any prayer in the agony of struggle to accomplish. There is in the universe no force whatever which is working against it so powerfully as to make it cry for help and there cannot be any struggle or agony in the activity of the Dharmakaya. The term prayer therefore is altogether misleading and inaccurate and implicates us in a grave error which tends to contradict the general Buddhist conception of Dharmakaya. We must dispense with the term entirely in order to be in perfect harmony with the fundamental doctrine of Buddhism. This point will receive best. ; further consideration later. CHAPTER 238 IX. nor have we to praise or eulogise its virtues to court its special grace, nor is there any necessity for us to or offer prayer Consider the and spin, 1 shines in the Dharmakaya. of the field which neither add, might favoritism from above Solomon better than to supplication lilies ; which ask not nor toil for any yet are they not arrayed even in all his glory ? The Dharmakaya august magnificence everywhere there is are all living nay, even where there is death. its We life, in the midst of and it yet, strange to say, as "the fish knows not "the as the presence of water about itself," and also mountaineers recognise not the mountains among which they we know not whence is made manifest in us hunt," even so power comes whose .work and whither it finally leadeth us. In that we ignorance, we rest all this is really feel that we profound are here, and thereby For we believe that contented. supremely spite of this wrought through the mysterious and miracu- Dharmakaya, who does all excellent works and seeks no recompense whatever. lous will of the The Will of the Dharmakaya. Summarily speaking, the Dharmakaya assumes three essential aspects sciousness: it is first, as We dhdnabala). the declaration is it love (karund) reflected ; intelligence (prajna)\ secondly, and know that our religious con- in thirdly, that the it it is is the will (prani- intelligence Dharmakaya from directs course of the universe, not blindly but rationally ; know again that it is love because it embraces the we all CHAPTER IX. beings with fatherly tenderness assume that down has firmly set be shall the final Without the realised lose will * ; aim of its of goal and finally we must because the Dharmakaya will, activity in that all and love will, without ; their the a is it 239 evil in good the universe. intelligence will not love, the will and intelligence without be will and love impulse intelligence, be irrational. In fact, the three are co; will ordinates and constitute the oneness of the Dharmakaya ; and by oneness I mean the absolute, and not the numericunity of al, for Dharmakaya, are these three things in the being of the all intelligence and love and the as such only in our differentiated human, will finite consciousness. Some Buddhists may not agree entirely with the view here expounded. They may declare "We conform to your view when you say the Dharmakaya is intelligence and love, as this is expressly stated in the : and gastras sutras made be a will. ; but we do not see how it could Indeed, the Scriptures say that the Dharmakaya is in possession of the Pranidhanabala, but this bala or power is not necessarily the will, it the power of prayers or intense vows. is makaya actually energy abiding its original salvation of It 1 "I is made solemn vows, and in the plan all world of particulars works out and makes possible the universal creatures." quite true that the am The Dhar- their spiritual the father of all word pranidhanabala means beings, and they are (The Avatamsaka, the Pundarika, etc.) my children." CHAPTER 24O "the literally power of IX. But prayers." original its literary rendering totally ignores this inner significance which the nature of the Dharmakaya would become unintelligible. We admit that the Dharmakaya without knows no higher existence by which nor has like that to than of speak it is itself. its some Buddhists hand, we necessitated to appeal to something It is, therefore, utterly nonsensical prayer, "original" or borrowed, as will all done by is its own free the determinations that might from outside. it But the other are perfectly justified in saying that whatever independent of affect On are inclined to think. done by the Dharmakaya is conditioned, any fragmentary, limited consciousness of human being, nor has it any intrinsic it want by which other it is I can presume the reason why they speak of the prayers of the Dharmakaya instead of its will. Here we have an instance of emotional outburst. The fervency of the intense frequently carries us landing dictions. human beyond the us in a region It measure of religious sentiment not in- full limits of the intellect, of mysteries and contra- anthroposises everything beyond the proper intellection and ascribes all earthly and passions to an object which the mind well-balanced demands to be above all the feelings forms of human helplessness. The Buddhists, especid ally those of the Sukhavati sect, recognise the exist- To get more fully acquainted with the significance of the Sukhavati doctrine, the reader is advised to look up the 1 Sukhavati sutras in the Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XLIX. CHAPTER ence an all-powerful of IX. will, 241 all-embracing love, and all-knowing intelligence in the Dharmakaya, but they want to represent it more concretely and in a more humanly fashion before the mental followers. intellectual Dharmakaya The sufferings of birth out its of its vision of the less thus in spite of its absoluteness to himself to emancipate addressed result prayers inmost all is that made prayers sentient beings from the and death. But are not these of the nature the self- Dharmakaya which sprang exactly what constitutes will? 16 CHAPTER X. THE DOCTRINE OF TRIKAYA. (BUDDHIST THEORY OF TRINITY.) Human and The O NE the Super-human Buddha. of the most remarkable differences between the and the Sanskrit, that is, between the Hinayana and the Mahayana Buddhist literature, is in the manPali ner of introducing the characters or persons who take principal parts in the narratives. In the former, sermons are by the Buddha delivered natural and plain language as as to a rule in such a make the reader the presence of the teacher, fatherly-hearted and feel philosophically we serene; while in the latter generally a mysterious, transcendent figure, more than human, surrounded and worshipped by have celestial beings of niac, and all kinds, human, celestial, and even demo- this mystical central character some supernatural feats which might by an intensely poetical mind. performing well be narrated In the Pali scriptures, the texts as a rule the formula, "Thus it open with was heard by me" (Evam me if any, which induced the sutam), then relate the events, Buddha to the to deliver them, and finally lead the reader main subjects which are generally written in CHAPTER X. 243 Their opening or introductory matter is very simple, and we do not notice anything extraordinary in its further development. But with the Ma- lucid style. hayana texts it is quite different. Here we have, as soon as the curtain rises with the stereotyped formula, "Evam maya grutam," a majestic prologue dramatically or rather grotesquely represented, which prepares the mind of the audience to the succeeding scenes, some of which in the boldest proclamations are brought forth. religio-philosophical The perusal of this introductory part alone will stupefy the reader by rather monstrous grandeur, and he may without its much ado declare that what follows must be extraordinary and may be even nonsensical. The following is an manner of introducing illustration showing the typical the characters in the Mahayana * texts. "Thus was heard by me. Buddha was once stayRajagriha, on the Gridhrakuta mountain. He it ing at was in the Hall of of Chandana. Ratnachandra Ten years passed in the Double Tower since his attainment of Buddhahood. He was surrounded by a hundred thousand Bhiksus and Bodhisattvas and Mahasattvas numbering sixty times as them were many as the sands of the Ganges. All of possession of the greatest spiritual energy they had paid homage to thousands of hundred mil1 What in follows ; is selected from a short sutra called The Mahavaipulva-Tathagatagarbha Sutra, translated into Chinese by Buddhabhadra of the Eastern Tsin dynasty (A.D, 371-420). Nanjo, No 384. CHAPTER X. 244 of niyutas lions i of Buddhas; they were able to set rolling the never-sliding-back whoever heard their Wheel names could of Dharma; and establish themselves Highest Perfect Knowledge. Their names [Here about fifty Bodhisattvas are mentioned.] firmly in the were. . "All many . . Bodhisattvas numbering sixty times as as the sands of the Ganges coming from innumethese rable Buddha-countries were accompanied by numberless Devas, Nagas, Yaksas, Gandharvas, Aguras, Garudas, * This great assembly all Kinnaras, and Mahoragas. homage to the Bhagavat, the World-honored One. "At this time the Bhagavat in the Double Tower joined in revering, honoring, paying of Chandana seated himself in the assigned seat, entered upon a samadhi, and displayed a marvelous phenomenon. There appeared innumerable lotus-flowers with thousand-fold petals and each flower as large as a carriage- wheel. They had perfectly beautiful color and fragrant odour, but their petals containing celestial beings in them were not yet unfolded. They all were raised now by themselves over high up in the heavens and hung Each one of the earth like a canopy of pearls. these lotus-flowers emitted innumerable rays of light and simultaneously grew in size with wonderful vitality. But through the divine power of Buddha they all of but Niyuta is an exceedingly large number, considered to be equal to one billion. 1 generally V 2 All these are unhuman forms demons, dragon-kings, winged beasts, of existence, including etc. CHAPTER X. 245 a sudden changed color and withered. All the celestial Buddhas sitting cross-legged within the flowers now came hundred into full view, shone with innumerable thousand-fold rays of light. At this moment the tran- scendent glory of the spot was beyond description." As is here thus clearly shown, the Buddha in the . Mahayana walking to that scriptures in a not an ordinary ; is . human being altogether dissimilar who resigned the royal the wilderness, and after six years' son of Suddhodana, wandered life, is sensuous world he . in profound meditation and penance discovered the Fourfold Noble Truth and the Twelve Chains of Dependence ; and we cannot but think that the Mahayana Buddha is the fictitious creation of an intensely poetic mind. Let it be "How is, so. But the question which engages us now did human Buddha the come Buddhists to oblivion, as it to relegate the were, and assign a mysterious being in his place invested with all possible or sometimes impossible majesty and supernaturality ?" This question, which marks the rise of Mahayana Buddhism, brings us to the doctrine of Trikaya, which sense corresponds to the Christian theory of trinity. According to this doctrine, the Buddhists presume in a is, the Tathagata conceived by them as manifesting himself in three the Body of Transdifferent forms of existence a triple existence of the Tathagata, that is : formation, the Though all Body of Bliss, and the Body the manifestations of one Dharmakaya, makaya of Dharma. they are conceived as three, they are in fact the Dhar- that revealed itself in the historical (Jakyamuni CHAPTER 246 Buddha X. a Body of Transformation, and in the as a Body of Bliss. However differBuddha Mahayana ently they may appear from the human point of as view, they are nothing but the expression of one eternal truth, in which all things have their raison d'etre. An Historical View. At present we are not in possession of any historical documents that will throw light on the question as to how early this doctrine of Trikaya or Buddhist trinity conception came to be firmly established among Northern Buddhists and found its way in an alreadyfinished form as such into the Mahayana scriptures. we know, philosopher, who As far as it was Ac. vaghosa, the first Mahayana conception in his Discourse on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana as early as the as the incorporated first century before Christ. This work, author declares, Mahayana this is a sort of synopsis of the teachings, elucidating their principal features taught by the Buddha in his various sutras. It is not an original work which expounds the individual as views of Agvaghosa concerning Buddhism. He wrote the book in a concise and comprehensive form, in order that the later generations Buddha could not have the by his august presence, tration of significance Therefore, mind and of many in the who remote from the privilege of being inspired might peruse synthetically it with concen- grasp the whole lengthy and voluminous Awakening of Paith, we sutras. are supposed CHAPTER X. 247 any Mahayana doctrines that were not already taught by the Buddha and incorporated in the not to find sutras. Everything Agvaghosa treats in his work must be considered merely a recapitulation of the doctrines which were not only formulated but firmly established faith long before him. as the Mahayana the work of a the recorder. He is simply scanned all had existed prior to scriptures that Mahayana carefully His his time and faithfully collected all the principal teachings here and there Mahayanism scatteringly told in them. His merit lies in compilation and systematisation. of This being the case, we must assume that all the that are found in Agvaghosa and distinct doctrines from those usually held to be Hinayanistic are the teachings elaborated by Buddhists from the time of Buddha's death down to the time of Agvaghosa. But as the latter apparently believes Buddha's own and all these doctrines as no doubt concerning their they were so, we must assume origin, again that these doctrines were in a state of comeven later raises if pletion long before Agvaghosa's time. If our calculation is correct that he lived Christ, the Mahayana formulated at age, least must be said to have been two hundred years prior to taking this presumably as for the formulation and required century before in the first faith the time his that is dogmatical esta- blishment of a doctrine. This calculation places the development of the Mahayana century after during this the Buddha, time that so faith and, many during the we know, it first was schools and divisions, 248 CHAPTER X. among which we must also find the so-called "primitive" each Buddhism of Ceylon, arose among the Buddhists, be to claiming the authentic only of transmission the Buddha's teaching. Did Mahayanism come out of this turmoil of contention? Did it boldly raise itself from and claim chaos this have solved to all the questions and doubts that agitated the minds of Buddhists after the Nirvana? For certain know we do not of the the anything concerning chronology development of Buddhist philosophy and dogmas India, at least before Agvaghosa; but, as Chinese Buddhist literature records, was most probably the that this To our readers far as in our we must conclude case. a glimpse of the state of things that were taking place in those early days of give Buddhism in India, will I Vasumitra's Discourse on the Different Schools by once refered to two principal vana of the in the quote some passages from the Points of Controversy of Buddhism, the beginning of this book. work The schools that arose soon after the Nir- Buddha were, known, the Elders and the Great Council, and though they were further and that divided into a as is well number of smaller sections their views became so complex and intermixed some of the Elders shared similar views with the Great Council School and vice versa, yet we can fairly distinguish one from the other and describe the the essential peculiarities of each school. These points of difference, generally speaking, are as follows, confining ourselves to their conceptions about the Buddha : CHAPTER X. (i) According to the School of the Great Council, the Buddha's personality and 249 all is transcendental (lokottara), the Tathagatas are free from the defilements that might come from the material existence (bhdvain the Buddha all evil passions hered- For ! dgrava). and acquired were eternally uprooted, and his presence on earth was absolutely spotless. (The itary Vibhasa, CLXXIII.) Contending this view, the Elders held that the Buddha's personality was not free from though his mind was fully enlightened. His corporeal existence was the product of blind love veiled with ignorance and tangled with attachment. Bhavacrava, this If were not so, the Buddha's feature would not have awakened an impure affection in the heart of a maiden, an ill-will in the heart of a highwayman, stupidity in the mind of an ascetic, and arrogance in that J of a Agrava haughty Brahman. These incidents which literally means "oozing," or "flowing out," and the it by lou, dripping, or leaking. Chinese translators rendered Roughly speaking, it is a general name for evils, principally material and sensuous. According to an Indian Buddhist scholar, Acrava has threefold sense: (i) "keeping," for it retains all sentient beings in the whirlpool of birth and death (2) "flowing," for it makes all sentient beings run in the stream of birth and death; (3) "leaking," or "oozing," for it lets such evils as avarice, anger, lust, etc., ooze out from the six sense-organs after the fashion of an ulcer, which lets out blood and filthy substance. The cause of Acrava is a blind will, and its result is birth and death. Specifically, Bhavacrava is one of the three Acravas, which are (i) kamacrava, (2) vidyacrava, and (3) bhavacrava. The first is egotistic desires, the second is ignorance, and the third is the material existence which we have to suffer on account of our previous karma. ; 25O CHAPTER happened during the life his X. presence was and to that extent to apt corporeal hearts, Buddha evince of the it that agitate others' was contaminated by Bhavagrava. The Great Council School (2) insists that every word uttered by a Tathagata has a religious, spiritual meaning and purports to the edification of his fellowbeings ; but variously interpreted own disposition, to his spiritual welfare; that every instruction all given is audience each according to his his by that his one utterance by the Buddha out is rational and Against these views the Elders think that the occasionally with the for the perfect. Buddha uttered things which had nothing to do enlightenment of others that ; even with Buddha something was out of his attainment, instance, he could not make every one of his hearers perfectly understand his preachings ; that though the Buddha never taught anything irrational and heretical, yet all his speeches were not perfect, he said some things which had no concern with rationality or orthodoxy. (3) The corporeal has no limits (koti) ; body (rupakdya) of the Buddha his majestic power has no limits ; every Buddha's life is unlimited a Buddha knows no fatigue^ knows not when to rest, always occupying ; himself with the enlightenment of and with the awakening all sentient beings in their hearts of pure faith. -^Against these tendencies of the Great Council School to deify insist the historical Buddha, the Elders generally on the humanity of Buddhahood. Though the CHAPTER X. 251 Elders agree with the Great Council in that the body assumed by the Buddha as the result of his untiring accumulation of good karma through eons of his successive existences possesses a wonderful power, spir- and itual beyond material, all they do not conceive It to be limitations. (4) The Great Council School says that with the Buddha sleep is not necessary and he has no dreams. The Elders admit that the Buddha never dreams, but denies that he does not need any sleep. (5) As the Buddha is always in the state of a deep, not necessary for exalted spiritual him what to say when requested to answer questions. Though he might appear to the inquirers as if presented to in fact he thoroughly cogitates over the problems him for solution, the Buddha's response immediate Elders, on mental calculation as is to think certain is meditation, it the other as and without any hand, to efforts. The presume the Buddha's how to express his ideas best suited to the understanding of the audience. Indeed, he does not cogitate over the problem itself, him everything is transparent, but he thinks over the best method of presenting his ideas before for with his pupils. 1 ! Our thoughtful readers must have noticed here that the conceptions of the Buddha as entertained by the Mahasangika School (Great Council) closely resemble those of the Mahayana Buddhism. Though we are still unable to trace step by step development of Mahayanism in India, the hypothesis assumed by most of Japanese Buddhist scholars is that the Mahasangika was Mahayanistic in tendency. the CHAPTER 252 Now to return to the doctrine of When we Trikaya. above X. consider Dharmakaya and these controversies as it is apparent that among many other which arose soon after the demise of the Budquestions dha (Jakyamuni, there was one, which in all probability stated, most agitated the minds of his disciples. question of the personality of Buddha. a human being I Was mean the he merely Then, how could he moral perfection ? Or was he like ourselves? reach such a height of a divine being ? But Buddha himself did not communicate anything to his disciples concerning his divinity, nor did he of his But truth. them tell for eradicate from reverence for or anecdotes, ask hearts their Dharma on account could the disciples ever the feeling of sacred teacher, which their Whenever they gathas embodied become so how that all engraved there? spirit to accept the divine personality, but solely for the sake of in was so indelibly recalled the sermons, of their master, the truth and them and the author must have closely associated that they could not but themselves: "What the in Buddha caused him to perceive and declare these solemn profound truths What was it that raised and of religious such too had that is tions that formed What was character? him life ? in him such a noble majestic mind of Buddha there in the to such How a perfection of intellectual was it possible that, possessed exalted moral and spiritual virtues, to succumb the lot of ? to the law of birth common mortals ? Buddha and death Some such ques- must have been repeatedly asked before they CHAPTER X. 253 answer them by the doctrines of Dharmakaya could and Trikaya. Who was The evidence entrance Master's Buddha? that these questions minds of the the disturbing the into were constantly disciples ever since the is Parinirvana, scatteringly revealed throughout the Buddhist texts both Southern and Northern. The regret of the immediate followers that earthly Light of ask the the Buddha Buddha told to prolong his them of the Blessed One, "How the World has passed away!" may be considered the showers that he he wished, and their lamentation over if remains utterances the while life, could do so the not did they doubt and of first soon the l these drops foreboding speculation as his to personality. 2 According to the Suvarna Prabha Sutra, a Bodhisattva, by the name of Ruciraketu, was greatly annoyed by the doubt why (Jakyamuni Tathagata had such a short life terminating only at eighty. He 1 The Mahaparimbbana sutta. 1 There are three Chinese translations of this sutra the first, by Dharmaraksa during the first two decades of the the second, by Paramartha of the Liang fifth century A. D. dynasty, who came to China A. D. 546 and died A. D. 569 and the third, by I-tsing of the Tang dynasty who came back from his Indian pilgrimage in the year 695 and translated this : ; ; sutra A. D. 703. The last is the only complete Chinese translation of the Suvarna Prabhct. A part of the orginal Sanskrit text recovered in Nepal was published by the Buddhist Text Society of India in 1898. Nanjo, Nos. 126, 127, 130. CHAPTER X. 254 taught any the living charity, in ably the those that disciples who did not injure beings, and those who generously practised their former lives, could enjoy a consider- long life on earth; why then was the life of Blessed One himself cut so short, who practised those virtues from time immemorial? The sutra now records that this doubt was dispelled by the declaration who of four Tathagatas and sceptic the ocean vast into can counted, but the age of measure. Crush the mount as fine as mustard seeds particles count them, none can measure but the the the in be can none (Jakyamuni Sumeru we can mysteriously appeared to the him that "Every drop of water told age of and (Jakyamuni Buddha never entered Good Dharma never perish. into Parinirvana He showed an earthly death merely for the benefits ; will of sentient beings." Here we have the conception of a spiritual Dharma- kaya germinating (Jakyamuni. 1 out of the corporeal Here we have the bridge death of that spans men never die seems to be universal. would never perish, because the ideas that moved them and made them prominent in the history of humanity are born of truth. And in this sense every person who is possessed of worthy thoughts is immortal, while souls that are made of trumpery are certainly doomed to annihilation. But the masses are not satisfied with this kind of immortality. They must have something more tangible, more sensual, and more individual. The notion of bodily resurrection 1 The notion Spiritually of Christ that great they is a fine illustration of this truth. When the followers opened the master's grave, they did not find his so body, says legend, and they at once conceived the idea of Christ CHAPTER X. human the wide gap between the and the 255 spiritual existence akyamuni Buddha of the Dharmakaya. The Buddha did not die after he partook of the food His age was not eighty. His life Chunda. by did not pass to an airy nothingness when his cine- offered were divided among kings and Brahmans. His virtues and merits which were accumulated throughurns rary out so life innumerable abruptly. could not constituted the kalpas, What and that of ours too could come essence not the vicissitudes of the corporeal existence. as a particular individual being to transformation must abide so forever is to naught of his with perish The Buddha was certainly subject every mortal, but his truth His Dharmakaya is above birth and death and even above Nirvana; but his Body of Transformation comes out of the womb of Tathagata as destined by karma and vanishes into it when the karma exhausts seated to all among at its force. The Buddha who is still the summit of the Gridhrakuta, delivering beings the message of joy and bliss, and who other precious teachings bequeathed to us man as common resurrection now of resurrection, for they reasoned that such a great Jesus could not suffer the same fate that befalls only. The story of his corporeal took wing and went wild; some heard him speak to them, some saw him break bread, and others even touched his wounds. What a grossly materialistic conception early Christians (and alas, even some of the twentieth century) cherished about resurrection and immortality! It is no wonder, therefore, that primitive Buddhists raised a serious question about the mortals personality of Buddha which culminated in the conception of the Sambhogakaya, Body of Bliss, by Mahayanists CHAPTER 256 X. such sutras as the Avatamsaka, the Pundanka^ etc., is no more nor less than an expression of the eternal Thus came the doctrine of Dharmakaya to be by the Mahay anists, and from this the to that of Trikaya was but a natural sequence. transition spirit. formulated one without the other could not give an of solution the problems above cited. adequate Because The Trikaya as Explained in the Suvarna Prabha. What then is It Tathagata? Transformation Bliss ; and we draw (3) is the (i) Trikaya or triple Nirmana Kaya, (2) Sambhoga Kaya, Dharma Kaya, the Body ; body of the the the Body of Body of of Dharma. If a parallelism between the Buddhist and the Christian trinity, the Body of Transformation may be considered to correspond to Christ in the flesh, the Body of Bliss either to Christ in glory or to Holy Ghost, and Dharmakaya to Godhead. Let us again quote from the Suvarna Prabha, which (I-tsing's following translation, statements chap. concerning III.) we the doctrine in find the of Trikaya. "The Tathagata, when he was yet at the stage of deeds of morality for the sake of sentient beings. The practise finally attained perfection, reached maturity, and by virtue of its discipline, practised divers merits he acquired a wonderful spiritual power. The power enabled him to respond to the thoughts, deeds, and livings of sentient beings. He thoroughly understood them and never missed the right opportunity CHAPTER place and right 257 He revealed himself in in the right moment; he acted respond to their needs]. [to the X. rightly, assuming various bodily forms [in response to the needs of mortal souls]. These bodily forms are called the Nirmanakaya of the Tathagata. "But when the Tathagatas, in order to make the Bodhisattvas thoroughly conversant with the Dharma, to instruct them in the highest reality, to let them understand that birth-and-death (samsdra) and Nirvana are of one taste, to destroy the thoughts of the ego, individuality, and the fear [of transmigration], promote happiness, to lay foundation Buddha-dharmas, for and to innumerable to be truly in accord with Suchness, the knowledge of Suchness, and the Spontaneous Will, themselves to the Bodhisattvas manifest form in a is perfect with the thirty-two major and eighty minor features of excellence and shining with the halo around the head and the back, the Tathagatas are which said have to assumed the Body Sam- of Bliss or l bhogakaya. "When [material, all possible intellectual, obstacles arising and emotional] are from sins perfectly removed, and when all possible good dharmas are preserved, there would remain nothing but Suchness and this is the Dharmakaya. the knowledge of Suchness, "The first two forms of the Tathagata are provisional [and temporal] reality, 1 wherein Compare existences the ; but the last one is a former two find the reason of this to the transfigured Christ. 17 CHAPTER 258 their Why? existence. X. Because when deprived ot Dharma of Suchness and of knowledge of non- particularity, no Buddha-dharma can ever exist because the ; Suchness and Knowledge of Suchness that absorbs within itself all possible forms of Buddha-wisdom and it is renders possible a complete extinction of and sins [arising from all passions particularity]." According to the above, the Dharmakaya which is tantamount to Suchness or Knowledge of Suchness is absolute in a but like the ; moon whose image is reflected drop of water as well as in the boundless expanse of the waves, the Dharmakaya assumes on itself all possible aspects from the grossest material form to the subtlest spiritual existence. the needs of the When Bodhisattvas it whose responds to spiritual life on a much higher plane than that of ordinary mortals, it takes on itself the Body of Bliss or is Sambhogakaya. This Body is a supernatural existence, and almost all the Buddhas in the Mahayana scriptures belong to this class of being. Acvaghosa (p. ioi)says: "The Body has infinite forms. The form has infinite attributes. The attribute has infinite excellences. And the accompanying fruition, that is, the region where they are destined to be born [by their previous karma], also Manifesting is its infinite, activity] has infinite merits and ornamentations. itself everywhere, boundless, which limitless, comes the Body of Bliss unintermittent directly [in from the Mind [Dharmakaya]." But the Buddhas revealed to the eyes of common CHAPTER X. mortals are not of this kind 259 They are themselves, and the earthly (Jakyamuni womb the as who came out of away under the sala eighty years was one of them. He Dharmakaya, and essentially a manifestation of the we such mortals of Mayadevi and passed trees at the age of was common ordinary people also partake something of him. But the masses, unless favored by good karma accumulated of ignorance. in its in the past, They do not are generally under the spell see the glory of Dharmakaya perfect purity shining in the lilies of the field and sung by the fowls of the air. They are blindly dark wilderness, they are vainly seeking, groping they are wildly knocking. To the needs of these people in the the Dharmakaya responds by assuming an earthly form as a human Buddha. Revelation in All Stages of Culture. En let passant, that Christ is conceived by festation of the a Buddha and us remark that it is in this sense Buddhists also as a mani- Dharmakaya in a human form. He is as such not essentially different from akyamuni The Dharmakaya revealed itself as Qakyamuni to the Indian mind, because that was in harmony its needs. The Dharmakaya appeared in the person of Christ on the Semitic stage, because it suited their with The doctrine of Trikaya, however, even further and declares that demons, animal goes gods, ancestor- worship, nature-worship, and what not, are all due to the activity and revelation of the Dhar- taste best in this way. makaya responding to the spiritual needs of barbarous 26O CHAPTER X. and half-cultured people. The Buddhists think that the Dharmakaya never does things that are against the spiritual of of welfare done by is it revelation, is its creatures, and that whatever for their best interests at that moment no matter how they comprehend the nature of the Dharmakaya. The Great Lord Dharma he knows of never throws a pearl before the swine, for animal's needs are for things more substantial. He does not reveal himself in an exalted spiritual the form to the people whose hearts are not yet capable of grasping anything beyond the grossly material. As they understand animal gods better than a metaphysical or highly abstracted being, let them have them and derive all possible blessings and benefits through their But as soon as they become dissatisfied with the animal or human-fashioned gods, there must worshiping. not be a moment's hesitation to what 1 I them have exactly their enlightened understanding can Cf. child, let I I Cor. xm, ii. understood as a became a man, I "When child, I I was a comprehend. child, I thought as a d spake as a child, but when put away childish things." This point of our ever-ascending spiritual progress is well illustrated in the Saddharma-pundarlka Siitra. See Chapters II, III, IV, V, and XI. The following passage quoted from chap. II, p. 49 (Kern's translation) will give a tolerably adequate view concerning diversity of means and unity of purpose as here expounded: "Those highest of men have, all of them, revealed most holy laws by means of illustrations, reasons and arguments, with many hundred proofs of skillfulness (updyakaufalya). And all of them have manifested but one vehicle and introduced but one on earth; by one vehicle have they led to full ripeness inconceivably many thousands of kotis of beings." As was CHAPTER are thus They sciously on of real the while being led, though uncon- all their part, to the higher till mystery, and 26l X. come they meaning of the and higher region grasp the true Dharmakaya in its absolute fully to purity, or, to use Christian terminology, with the open are glory, even as changed by the Spirit the that the reason (Jakyamuni entered into Parinirvana was thought by him his all, same image from of the Lord." (2 Cor HI. 18.) into The Mahayanists now argue this "we face beholding as in a glass the glory of Lord, career till resignation when to be over to the law of birth why his worldly is that by and death, he wished to exemplify in him the impermanency of worldly life and the folly of clinging to it as final it when it in As Dharmakaya, it has an eternal life, was never born, and it would never perish; and reality. for his needs of the Bodhisattvas, will cast off the garb of absoluteness and preach the form of a Sambhogakaya "never-ceasing sercalled by the mons which run will be evident to consider all spiritual stream for ever and aye." It from this that Buddhists are ready like a religious or moral leaders of mankind, whatever their nationality, as the Body of Transformation of the Dharmakaya. Translated into Christian thoughts, God worthy of him. reveals himself in every being that He is reveals himself not only at a certain elsewhere noted, this doctrine is sometimes known as the theory Upaya is very difficult term to literally means "way," "method," or of Upaya. translate into English it "strategy." interpretation see p. 298, footnote. For ; fuller CHAPTER X. 262 in period His glory history, is but everywhere and perceived throughout This manifestation, all all the time. the stages of human culture. nature of God, cannot be intermittent and sporadic from the very imagined by some "orthodox Christians." The following from St. Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians as is (Chap. almost there And read ^i)7Hvhen like a are in Buddhist philosopher's utterance of gifts, but the same : diversities "Now Spirit. there are diversities of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are it sounds this connection, the is diversities of operations, but same God which worketh manifestation of the Spirit withal profit For word of wisdom by the same Spirit Spirit ; ; to one is ; the in But the all. man to given by the Spirit the word of knowledge to another the Spirit to ; another faith by the same another the gifts of healing by the same working of miracles to another to another the prophecy other ; to all given to every is ; to another divers kinds of tongues interpretation worketh that one and every man of tongues; the selfsame but Spirit, ; all to an- these dividing For as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body so to severally as he will. : For by one Spirit are we all baptised into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free and have been all made to also is Christ. ; drink into one Spirit." CHAPTER X. 263 The Sambhogakaya. One peculiar point the in doctrine which modern minds find rather is hend, of Trikaya, difficult to compre- the conception of the Sambhogakaya, or the Body of Bliss. We can understand the the Dharmakaya and Nirmanakaya, similar to the notion of God relation between the latter being incarnate or to that of Avatara* Inasmuch as the Dharmakaya does not exist outside the triple world but in it as the raison d'etre existence, all beings must be considered a manifestation of it and in this sense Buddhists partial of its ; sometimes of themselves Bodhisattvas, that call intelligence, psychological because aspect intelligence of the is, (Bodhi) Dharmakaya beings is the as realised But the conception of Sambhogakaya too mysterious to be fathomed by a in sentient beings. is altogether limited consciousness. when we is Bliss, the fact told that the becomes more apparent Sambhogakaya, Body of same time a corporeal existence and at the the filling are The universe and that there are two forms of Body of Bliss, one for self-enjoyment and the other as a sort of religious object for the Bodhisattvas. That the Body of Bliss is corporeal and yet infinite has already been shown by the quotations from the Suvarna Prabha and Acvaghosa on the preceding pages. For further confirmation of this point no less authority than Asanga and Vasubandhu will be here refered to. In A Comprehensive Treatise on the Mahayana and CHAPTER 264 X. commentary, the author Asanga and the commentator Vastibandhu endeavor to prove why the Body of Bliss cannot be the raison d'etre of the in its Dharmakaya, instead of vice they argue that five the (i) Skandhas, that is, and in this connection versa; of Bliss consists of the Body of material form (rupa), sen- sation (vedand), ideas (samjnd), deeds (sanskdra), and consciousness it (vijndna}\ (2) larisation; (3) it subject to particu- is reveals different virtues and characters desires of Bodhisattvas (4) even according to the same individual it appears differently at different the to times; (5) when ; it manifests itself simultaneously before an assemblage of Bodhisattvas of divers characters and qualifications, it at once assumes divers forms, order to satisfy their infinitely diversified inclinations (6) it is a creation of the Alayavijnana, All-conserving in ; Mind. These six enumerated of the Body of Bliss make and Vasubandhu by Asanga peculiarities as it on the Dharmakaya, but indeed entirely dependent they do not place us in any better position to penetrate into the deep mystery of its nature. Its supernatural incomprehensibility remains the same forever. In a certain sense, however, the Body of Bliss may be considered lo be corresponding to the Christian idea of an angel. Supernaturalness and luminosity are the two characters possessed by both, but angels are merely messengers of will to human beings. God communicating When to a specially favored person, the latter's they reveal themselves it is not of their own CHAPTER X. account. When name of the 265 they speak to him at all, it is by the being who sent them. They do not represent him, they do not act his On selves. master of makaya. the its It who come contrary, own. It the Body of instructs and benefits acts according to It it. these In altogether different of angels. But will it will by them- Bliss is the an expression of the Dhar- to and judgment. is is own the creatures all respects the its Body own will of Bliss from the Christian conception be more appropriately compared to Christ in glory? Let us make another quotation from later authorities than Asanga and his brother Vasubandhu, and let more convincingly what complicated notions are involved in the idea of the Body of Bliss. According us see commentators on Vasubandhu's Vijndnamdtra * the fdstra (a treatise on the Yoga philosophy), of Bliss has The two distinct Body body aspects: (i) to the obtained by the by The Tathagata for his self-enjoyment, of his religious discipline through eons body which the Tathagata manifests to dint ; (2) the one of the most important philosophical works Yogacara school. Vasubandhu wrote the text (Nanjo, No. 1215) which consists only of thirty verses, but there appeared many commentators after the death of the author, who naturally entertained widely different views among themselves on the subject-matter, as it is too tersely treated in the text. Hsuen Tsang made selections out of the ten noted Hindu exegetists in A. D. 659 and translated them into the Chinese language. The compilation consists of ten fascicles and is known as Discourse on the Ideality of the Universe (a free rendering of the Chinese title Chang wei shilun, Nanjo, No. 1197). 1 This of the is 266 CHAPTER X. Pure Land (sukhavati}. This last body is in possession of wonderful spiritual powers, reveals the Wheel of Dharma, resolves all the religious doubts Bodhisattvas by the Bodhisattvas, and Mahayana Dharma. raised bliss in A plausible sceptical Mere Subjective Existence. from Judging all these characterisations, the most conclusion minds is that intently bent being able, in object itself to on reaching the highest its its its material being, which is own mind, which reality, but, not mind fabricates fashion into a spiritual- logically a contradiction, religiously an object deserving veneration And is limitations, to grasp the absoluteness, the finite after modern Sambhogakaya must be a intelligent, finite on account of ideals its suggests that the mere creation of an all them enjoy the lets of the but and worship. no more than the Body of Bliss. 4 It lies half way between the pure being of Dharmakaya and the earthly form of Nirmanakaya, the Body of this being Transformation. is It does not partakes something of both. * . May tained the I belong It is in to venture to say that the conception of by most Christians Dharmakaya itself? In is a Body of some respects either, but a sense spiritual God as enter- Bliss rather their God than is quite spiritual, but in others he is thought of as a concrete material being like ourselves. It seems to me that the human soul is ever struggling to free itself from this paradox, though without any apparent success, while the masses are not so intellectual and reflective enough as to become aware of this eternal contradiction which is too deeply buried in their minds. CHAPTER X. Dharmakaya, and yet the like material for limitations, determinate. When the it human cannot go beyond a form, definite and has it 267 soul is thirsty after a pure being or an absolute which cannot be comprehended in a palpable form, it creates a hybrid, an or imitation, with just it, a reflection, as a little and tries to be satisfied has her innate and not girl developed maternity satisfied by tenderly embracing and nursing the doll, an inanimate imitation yet fully of a real living baby. have made most of And the Mahayanists childish this seem to humanness. They produced as many sutras as their spiritual yearnings demanded, quite regardless of historical made of the Body of the if and Tathagata the author Bliss of the these works. For all facts, Dharmakaya of the Tathagata never entered into Parinirvana, why then could he not deliver sermons and cite gathas as often as beings of intelligence (Bodhisattvas) The Suvarna Prabhd needs ? chap. 3) again echoes 2, sentiment as follows: this 4< (fas. felt their To does illustrate not by analogy, the sun or the moon make any conscious does the water-mirror, nor the from the body from which discrimination, light nor [conceived separate emanates]. But when all these three are brought together, there is produced an image [of the sun or the moon in the water]. So it is it with Suchness and Knowledge of Suchness. It not possessed of any particular consciousness, but is of the Spontaneous Will [inherent in the nature of Suchness, or what is the same thing, in the by virtue CHAPTER X. 268 Dharmakaya], the Body of Transformation or of Bliss a [as shadow of the Dharmakaya] reveals itself in response to the spiritual needs of sentient beings. "And, reflects expanding of akasa while the in boundlessly ways the images different all medium space) through the (void itself is space water-mirror the as again, void of of light, particular marks, so all reflects its images severally in the minds of believers, and this by virtue of receiving Will. The Will creates the Body of Spontaneous Dharmakaya Transformation as well the as Body of Bliss in their possible aspects, while the original, the kaya, does not suffer one whit a all Dharma- change on this account." According to this, it spiritual needs become evident that whenever our is sufficiently intense there is a response from the Dharmakaya, and that this response is not always uniform as the recipient minds show different If spiritually. souls and we the purity inspiration" call this ; communion between an Dharmakaya of and out flow that phenomena reflect of development, intellectually and degrees soul of should inspiration, fulness be in this sense the their scriptures as emanating all the heart and of called sentient "works of Mahayanists consider from the foun- directly tainhead of the Dharmakaya. Attitude of Modern Mahayanists. Modern Mahayanists in full accordance with this interpretation ^of the Doctrine of Trik^ya do not place CHAPTER X. 269 much importance on the objective aspects of the Body of Bliss (Sambhogakdya]. They consider them at best the fictitious products of an imaginative mind moment they never tarry mysterious Tathagatas a or to think that all who Bodhisattvas ; these are sometimes too extravagantly and generally too tediously described in the Mahayana texts are objective the that Sukhavatis or Pure Lands with such worldly stuff as gold, pearl, and other precious eye, these on ostentatiously the pedestals innumerable realities, are decorated emerald, cat's silver, would be transfered Buddhists ! that stones, pious after their death to ornamented heavens, be seated lotus-flowers, surrounded by of Bodhisattvas and and would Buddhas, enjoy all the spiritual enjoyments that human mind can conceive. On the contrary, modern Buddhists look with conceptions disdain of on these egotistic life. to religious For, materialistic a fully en- lightened soul, of what use could those worldly trea- The reader must not think that Land which is elaborately described 1 there is but one Pure in the Sukhavati Vyuha Sutra as the abode of the Tathagata Amitabha, situated innumerable leagues away in the West. On the contrary, the Mahayana texts admit the existence of as innumerable pure are Tathagatas arid Bodhisattvas, and every one of these holy regions has no boundary and is coexistent with the universe, and, therefore, their spheres necessarily intercrossing and overlapping one another. It would look to every intelligent mind that those innumerable Buddhacountries existing in such a mysterious and incomprehensible manner cannot be anything else than our own subjective lands as there single creation. CHAPTER X. 2/O sures be What ? happiness, earthly or heavenly, does such a soul dream outside the bliss of embracing the will of the Dharmakaya as his own? of, Recapitulation. To sum Buddha up, the in the Pali scriptures was a human being, though occasionally he is credited to have achieved things supernatural and superhuman. His historical career began with the abandonment of a royal life, then the wandering in the wilderness, and a earnest meditation on the great problems of long and birth-and-death, the Bodhi his then tree, final enlightenment under his fifty years' religious pere- along the valleys of the Ganges, and the establishment of a religious system known as Buddhism, grination and entrance into the "Parinirvana finally his eternal leaves nothing that And as these far seem as to behind" (anupadhigesanirvana). historical facts are concerned, plain exhaust the life of ^akyamuni on But the deep reverence which was felt by his could not be satisfied with this prosaic disciples earth. master and made him something than a mortal soul. So even the Pali tradition humanness of more gives one. their him a supramundane He is life besides the earthly to have been a Bodhisattva in supposed the Tusita heaven before his entrance into the of Mayadevi. The honor acceded to self-sacrifice him on which innumerable past of account were of praised incarnations. womb Bodhisattvahood his deeds throughout was of his While he was walk- CHAPTER X. us among ing in the flesh, he 271 was glorified with the thirty- two major and eighty minor excellent characteristics Buddha of a great man. 1 But he was not the first walked on earth to teach the Dharma, were already seven Buddhas before him, nor was he the last one that would appear among us, for that for there 1 pp. For a description of these marks see the Dhqrmasangraha, 53 ff. A process of mystifying or deifying the person of to have been going on immediately after the Buddha seems Master; and the Mahayanistic conception of Nirmanakaya and Sambhogakaya is merely the consummation of this process. Southern Buddhists who are sometimes supposed to represent a more "primitive" form of Buddhism describe just as much as Mahayanism the thirty-two major and eighty minor exellent physical marks of a great man as having been death of the possessed by Qakyamuni, (for instance, see the Milindapanha, S.B.E. Vol. XXXV. p. 116). But any person with common sense will at once see the absurdity of representing any human being with those physical peculiarities. And this seems to have inspired more rational Mahayanists to abandon way of portraying the human Buddha with mysterious signs. They transfered them through the doctrine of Trikaya to the characterisation of the Sambho- the traditional those gakaya Buddha, that is, to the Buddha enjoying in a celestial abode the fruit of his virtuous earthly life. The Buddha who walked in the flesh as the son of King Suddhodana was, however, no more than an ordinary human being like ourselves, e. because he appeared to us in a form of Nirmanakaya, as a Body of Transformation, devoid of any such physical i. peculiarities known as thirty-two or eighty laksanas. Southern Buddhists, so called, seem, however, to have overlooked the, ridiculousness of attributing these fantastic signs to the human Buddha; and this fact explains that as soon as the memory of the personal disciples of Buddha about his person vanished among the later followers, intense speculation and resourceful imagination were constantly exercised until the divers schools settled the question each in its own way. CHAPTER 272 a by the name of Maitreya Bodhisattva and making heaven Buddhahood of the further is now in preparations for the attainment time to come. But here stopped writers, they did not venture to make any Pali Their X. in on speculation the yearnings religious nature of not did Buddhahood. them spur to a higher flight of the imagination. They recited simple sutras or gathas, observed the cilas (moral precepts) as and strictly the as they could, literally spirit of their Master still and thought alive in these instruc- alone the personality of the Tathagata. But there was at the same time another group of tions let ; the disciples of the Buddha, whose religious and intellectual inclinations were not of the same type as their fellow-believers Buddha the and on that account a simple ; faith in as present in his teachings did not quite satisfy them. They perhaps reasoned in this fashion "If there were seven Buddhas before the advent of : Great the Muni of more who akya and there would be one to come, where, let us ask, did they derive their authority and knowledge to preach ? How is it that is there cannot be any they do not come to us human beings much like ourselves, more Buddhas, oftener? why not that If they were we ourselves be Buddhas?" These questions, when logically carried out, naturally led that all the them to the theory of Dharmakaya, past Buddhas, and those to come, and even we ordinary mortals made of clay and doomed to die soon, to the owe the raison d'etre of their existence Dharmakaya, which alone is immortal in us CHAPTER have to make of is, 273 first religious effort we therefore, to recognise this archetype Buddhas and all The Buddhas as in well as X. all beings. But the Dharmakaya too abstract for the average mind to become so they the object of its religious consciousness personified or rather materialised it. In other words, as such is ; they idealised Qakyamuni, endowed him not only with the physical (laksas) of greatness as in the but with those of celestial transfiguration, signs Pali scriptures, him a Body of Bliss of the Tathagata while the historical human Buddha was called a Body of and called ; Transformation that is, beings and of sentient beings Bodhisattvas, all intelligence destined to become Buddhas. This idealised Buddha, or, what is the same thing, a personified Dharmakaya, according to the Mahayana Buddhists, not only revealed himself in the particular person of Siddhartha Gautama in Central Asia a few thousand years ago, but is revealing himself in all times and all places. There is no specially favored spot on the earth where only the Buddha makes his appearance from the zenith of Akanista heaven down ; to the bottom of Naraka, he is manifesting uninterruptedly and unintermittently and is working out his ideas, of which, however, our limited understanding is unable have an adequate knowledge. The Avatamsaka Sutra (Buddhabhadra's translation, fas. 45, chap. 34) describes how the Buddha works out his scheme of to salvation in all possible ways. (See also the Saddharma 18 CHAPTER 274 X. pundarika, Kern's translation, chap. and also pp. 413-411.) "In 2, p. et seq., 30 wise the Buddha teaches and delivers this sentient beings through his religious teachings number times is in innumerable as atoms. the world He may reveal all whose some- of devas, sometimes in that of Nagas, Yaksas, Gandharvas, Asuras, Garudas, Kinnaras, Mahoragas, etc., sometimes in the world of Brahmans, world of human beings, sometimes the palace of Yamaraja (king of death), sometimes the underworld of damned spirits, ghosts, and beasts. sometimes in in in the His all-swaying compassion, intelligence, and will would all beings had been brought under his not rest until shelter through all possible means of salvation. He may achieve his work of redemption sometimes by means of his name, sometimes by means of memory, sometimes of voice, sometimes of perfect illumination, sometimes of the net of illumination. Whenever and wherever conditions are ripe for his appearance, he would never fail to present himself before sentient beings and also to manifest views of grandeur and splendor. 4 'The Buddha does not depart from his own region, he does not depart from his seat in the tower; yet he reveals himself in all the ten quarters of the globe. He would sometimes emanate from his own body the clouds of Nirmanakayas, or sometimes reveal himself in an undivided personality, and quarters would teach and deliver He may assume sometimes all itinerating in all sentient beings. the form of a (Jravaka, sometimes that of a Brahmadeva, sometimes that of CHAPTER X. an 275 sometimes that of a good physician, some- ascetic, times that of a tradesman, sometimes that of a Bhiksu honest worker], sometimes that of an artist, somethat of a deva. Again, he may reveal himself [or times sometimes in all the forms of art and industry, sometimes such as towns, cities, in all the places of congregation, etc. villages, may And whatever and whatever be, modate himself to his his surroundings he will , accom- possible conditions and achieve all work of enlightenment and The is his subjects for salvation salvation" * .... practical sequence of this doctrine of Trikaya has ever more broadened the spirit it apparent; of tolerance in Buddhists. As the Dharmakaya versally responds to the spiritual needs of in all times and in all places and all uni- sentient at any stage beings of their spiritual development, Buddhists consider all spiritual leaders, the as nality, whatever their nationality and persoexpressions of the one omnipotent Dharmakaya. And as the Dharmakaya always manifests itself for the best intere<5ts of sentient creatures, even those doctrines and their authors that are apparently against the teachings of Buddhism are tolerated through all moving according to the Will that Spontaneous pervades everywhere and works the conviction that they are all the time. Though, superficially, they as evils, their central and final aim harmony which are destined by the makaya to overcome this world of 1 Cf. I Cor. xi. 19 et seq. is may appear goodness and Will of the Dhartribulations and CHAPTER X. 276 contradictions. The general intellectual tendency of Buddhism has done a great deal towards cultivating a tolerant spirit in its believers, and we must say that the doctrine of Trinity which appears sometimes too radical in its pantheistic spirit has contributed to this cause. much CHAPTER XL THE BODHISATTVA. EXT to the conception of Buddha, what is impor- Mahayana Buddhism is that of Bodhisattva (intelligence-being) and of that which constitutes its essence, Bodhicitta, intelligence- heart. As stated above, tant in the followers of Mahayanism do not call themselves ravakas or Pratyekabuddhas or Arhats as do those of Hmayanism; but they title of Bodhisattva. distinguish themselves What this means will by the be the subject-matter of this chapter. Let us begin with a quotation from the Saddharmapundarika Sutra, in which a well-defined distinction between the Qr^vakas and the Pratyekabuddhas and the Bodhisattvas is ! given. The Three Ydnas. "Now, have Qariputra, the beings who have become wise, faith in the Tathagata, the father of the world, and consequently apply themselves to his commandments. "Amongst them follow the dictate themselves to the 1 there of are some who, wishing to an authoritative voice, apply commandment of the Tathagata to Kern's English translation (S.B.E. Vol. XXI), Chap. Ill, p. 80. CHAPTER 278 sake of their the for knowledge of the Four Great Truths, the acquire one may XI. own complete Nirvana. These, say, to be those who, seeking the vehicle of the (Jravaka, fly from the triple world "Other beings desirous of the unconditioned knowledge, of self-restraint and tranquillity, apply themselves of the Tathagata to learn to understand the Twelve Chains of Dependence, for the commandment the to own complete sake of their to be Nirvana. These, one may those who, seeking the vehicle of the Pratyekabuddha, fly from the triple world "Other beings again desirous of omniscience, Buddha- say, knowledge, absolute knowledge, unconditioned knowledge, apply themselves to the commandment of the Tathagata and to' learn to understand the knowledge, powers, and conviction of the Tathagata, for the sake of the common weal and happiness, out of compassion to the world, for the benefit, weal and happiness_of world the at of both gods and men, for the large, complete Nirvana of all beings. These, say, to be those who seeking the Great Vehicle (Mahay ana) fly from the triple world. Therefore, sake of the one may they are called Bodhisattva-mahasattvas." This characterisation of the Bodhisattvas as distinct from the ravakas and Pratyekabuddhas constitutes one of the most Buddhism. Here significant the himself in religious discipline own but the fit weal, of all his for sake fellow-creatures. of features Bodhisattva for does the Mahayana not exert sake of his of the spiritual beneIf he will, he could, CHAPTER like ravakas the and XI. 279 Pratyekabuddhas, enter into back he could enjoy eternal Nirvana that never slides ; the celestial bliss of undisturbed tranquillity in which our worldly tribulations are forever buried he could seclude himself from the hurly-burly of the world, and, all ; sitting cross-legged in a lonely cave, quietly contemplate on the evanescence of human interests and the frivolity of earthly affairs, and then self-contentedly await the time of streams final and rivers the into absorption absolute All, as run into one great ocean finally and become of one taste. But r in spite of self-sufficient blessings, the Bodhisattva all these would not own ease, but he would mingle himself in the turmoil of worldly life and devote all his energy to the salvation of the masses of people, who, on seek his account of their ignorance and infatuation, are forever transmigrating in the triple world, without making any progress towards the final goal of humanity. Along this Bodhisattvaic devotion, however, there was another current of religious thought and practice running mean among the followers the attitude of the buddhas. Both of them of Buddha. By this I ravakas and the Pratyekasought peace of mind in asceticism and cold philosophical speculation. Both of them were intently inclined to gain Nirvana which be likened unto an extinguished to think of the common weal therefore, when they from earthly pline was fire. of attained their It was not all may theirs beings, and, own redemption and passions, their religious discicompleted, and no further attempt was sins CHAPTER 28O made by them to XI. extend the bliss of their enlightenment to their fellow-creatures. from personal They recoiled themselves among vulgar people lest should get contaminated. They did not confidence enough in their own power to help mingling their holy have ' life the masses to break the iron yoke of ignorance and misery. Moreover, everybody was supposed to exert 6wn emancipation, however unbearable himself for his his pain was for others could not do anything to Sympathy was of no avail; because his own karma good or evil could be reward of the alleviate it. by himself suffered even 1 It by the doer alone, nor could himself. it be avoidable Things done were done should be noted here that the idea of universal salva- was lacking altogether in the followers of Hinayanism. But what distinguished it so markedly from Mahayanism is that the former did not extend the idea wide enough, but confined it to Buddhahood only. Buddha attained omniscience tion order that he might deliver the world, but we, ordinary mortals, are too ignorant and too helpless to aspire for Buddhahood; let us be contented with paying homage to Buddha in faithfully observing his precepts as laid down by him for our spiritual edification. Our knowledge and energy are too limit- and ed to cope with such a gigantic task as to achieve a univermankind; let a Buddha or Bodhisattva attempt it while we may rest with a profound confidence in him and in his work. Thoughts somewhat like these must have been going about in the minds of the Hinayanists, when their Mahayana brethren were making bold to strive after Buddhahood themselves. The difference between the two schools oi Buddhism, when most concisely expressed, is this: While one has a most submissive confidence in the Buddha, the other endeavors to follow his example by placing himself in his sal salvation of position. The following quotation ("the Story of Sumedha," CHAPTER once for all, and their 28l XI. karma made an indelible mark on the pages of his destiny. Even Buddha who was supposed to have attained that exalted position by innumerable pious deeds could not escape the fruit of practising lives, in all his evil former karma which was quite unwittingly commited by him. This iron arm of karma seizes everybody in person and does not allow any substitute whatever. Those who wish karma could do so to give a halt to the working of only by applying a counter-force to it, and this with no other hand than his own. The Mahayanist conception of Bodhisattvahood somewhat may be considered an effort to mitigate this ruthless mechanical rigidity of the law of karma. tale, from Warren's Buddhism, p. 14) in which Sumedha, one of the Buddha's former incarnations, expresses his resolve to be a Buddha, may just as well be considered as that of a Mahayanist himself, while the Hinayanists would a Jataka not dare to make this wish their own: "Or why should I, valorous man, The ocean seek to cross alone? Omniscience first will I achieve, And men and gods convey across. "Since now I make this earnest wish, In presence of this Best of Omniscience sometime And t Men, achieve, multitude convey across. I'll "I'll rebirth' circling stream arrest, Destroy existence's three modes; I'll climb the sides of Doctrine's ship, And men and gods convey across." 282 CHAPTER XI. Strict Individualism. The Buddhism buddhas of the (Jravakas and the Pratyeka- the most unscrupulous application to our is of life ethico-religious the theory of individualistic karma. All things done are done by oneself left undone are All that undone by ; all things They would is "Your salvation say: exclusively your own business, and whatever sympathy I may have is of no avail. left can do toward helping you I see intellectually the not oneself. follow your folly. even with way to let to emancipation. If you have but it, is you you do to suffer the fruition of am I my helpless with all my enlightenment, Nirvana, to emancipate you from the misery of perpetual metempsychosis." But with the Buddhism of the Mahayana Bodhisattvas the case "entirely different. It it is all-love. is is it is all-sympathy, all-compassion, Bodhisattva would not seclude himself A into the absolute tranquillity of Nirvana, simply because he wishes to emancipate the his fellow-creatures also from bondage of .ignorance and infatuation. Whatever rewards he karma of may his get for virtuous self-enjoyment as his deeds, the he would turn them over (parivarta) towards the uplifting of the suffering masses. And this self-sacrifice, this unselfish devotion to the welfare of his fellow-beings essence of Bodhisattvahood. therefore, is thought to The constitutes the ideal Bodhisattva, be no more than an incarnation of Intelligence and Love, of Prajna and Karuna. The irrefragability of karma seems to be satisfactory CHAPTER from the intellectual and XI. 283 individualistic standpoint, for the intellect demands a thorough application of logic, and individualism does not allow the transfering of from one person to another. From this viewpoint, therefore, a rigorous enforcement as demanded by Hinayanism of the principle of self-emancipation responsibility does not show any logical be suspended as fault curse the ignorance tenaciously clings of to ; divine grace must karma produced by our soul. But when viewed from the religious side of the question, this more than poor mortals qan endure. They want something more elastic and pliable inflexibility of karma is that yields to the supplication of the feeling. When individuals are considered nothing but isolated, discon- nected atoms, between which there which the is feeling, they are is too no unifying bond weak to resist and overcome the ever-threatening force of evil, whose reality as long as a world of particulars exists cannot be our contradicted. This religious necessity inmost consciousness may explain why Mahayana Buddhism proposed the ' parivarta (turning over) founded the felt in reason doctrine of on the oneness of Dharmakaya. The Doctrine of Parivarta. The doctrine of turning over (parivarta} of one's own merits to others is a great departure from that which seems to have been the teaching of "primitive Buddhism." In fact, it is more than a departure, it CHAPTER 284 is even XI. some measure. opposition to the latter in in Because while individualism a predominant feature in is the religious practice of the (Jravakas and the Pratyekabuddhas, universalism or supra-individualism, if I am allowed to use these terms, is the principle advocated by the Bodhisattvas. The latter believe that all beings, a manifestation of the being Dharmakaya, are in their essence of one nature ; real so far as subjective that individual existences are ignorance is concerned and ; that virtues and merits issuing directly from the Dhar- makaya which is intelligence produce pation of all cannot fail to what was thought impos- ravakas and the Pratyekabuddhas, that by the the turning over of one's is, love, beings. Thus, the religion of the Bodhi- sattvas proposes to achieve sible and universal benefit and to effect final emanci- own merits to the service of others is It in Bodhisattvas conceive this spirit that the the seriousness of the significance of that, spirit on istence of life pondering over the earth, they come life ; it is in this reason of their ex- to the following view : "All ignorant beings are daily and nightly perform- ing evil deeds in innumerable ways; and, on account, their suffering beggars description. not recognise the Tathagata, do not this They do listen to his teachings, do not pay homage to the congregation of holy men. And this evil karma will surely bring them a heavy crop of misery. This reflection fills the heart of a Bodhisattva with gloomy feelings, which in turn CHAPTER gives rise to the will carry all immovable nor all es 285 resolution, that he himself the burdens help them to reach the mably XI. for ignorant beings final goal of Nirvana. Inesti- heavy as these burdens are, he will not swerve yield under their weight. He will not rest until ignorant beings are freed from the entangling meshof desire and sin, until they are uplifted above the darkening veil of ignorance and infatuation marvelous this his limitations to and eternity spiritual ; and energy defies the narrow of time and space, and will extend even when the whole system of worlds to a conclusion. Therefore, torious deeds practised all comes the innumerable meri- by the Bodhisattvas are dedi- cated to the emancipation of ignorant beings. "The Bodhisattvas do not feel, however, that they are being compelled by any external force to devote and uplifting of the mass- their lives to the edification es. They do not the violation recognise of which may any outward authority, react upon them in the form of a punishment. They have already passed bethis stage of world-conception which implies a yond they are on the contrary moving in a much wider and higher sphere of thought. All that is done dualism ; by them springs from spontaneous will, from the free activity of the Bodhicitta, which constitutes their reason of existence and thus there is nothing compulsotheir ; ry in their thoughts and movements. [To use Laotzean ter- minology, they are practising non-action, wu wei, and whatever may appear to the ignorant and unenlightened as a strenuous and restless life, is merely a natural CHAPTER 286 XI. overflow from the inexhaustible fount of energy called P , Bodhicitta, heart of intelligence ]" 1 Bodhisattva in "Primitive" Buddhism. The notion of Bodhisattva was not entirely absent Buddhism, only it did not have such a signification. All Buddhas were Bodhisattvas in in "primitive" wide former their The lives. Jataka stories minutely des- self-sacrificing deeds were done by them and how by the karma of these merits they finally attained Buddhahood. Qakyamuni was not the only what cribe Buddha, but there had already been seven or twentyfour Buddhas prior to him, and the coming Buddha to be known as Maitreya is believed to be disciplining himself in the Tusita heaven and going through the stages of Bodhisattvahood. The one who is thus destined to be the future Buddha must be extraordinarily gifted in spiritual energy. He must pass through eons of self-disci- must practise deeds of non-atman with unflinching courage and fortitude through innumerable existences. pline, The following quotation from the Jataka tales will be sufficient to see what ponderous and exacting conditions were conceived by the so-called Hfnayanists to be fully 1 necessary for qualified Buddha. This is a human being to become a 2 summary of the doctrine that is known expounded in the Avatamsaka Sutra, fas. 21-22 a very rough as Parivarta and where ten lorms of Parivarta are distinguished and explained at length. 2 Warren's Buddhism in Translations, the "Story of Sumedha," pp. 14-15. CHAPTER "Of men condition by who makes a and only in a a will Bo-tree, can who is a ; same only he of a living after the death of Of those not be successful. the wish in the presence of a make successfully the world in a fit at a relic shrine, or at the and only he who has he that is it presence that succeeds in his wish of is a wish to be condition fit the in Buddha a wish made foot who he, make successfully wish the who make is can Of those Buddha. Buddha he, 287 the attainment of saintship in that that existence, a is it XI. it from the world retired the Buddha and not one wish, Of those who have retired from only he who is possessed of the Five layman. it is High Powers and is that can successfully master of the Eight Attainments make the wish, and no one can do so who is lacking in these excellences. Of those, who possess these excellences, it is he, and only he, who has such firm resolve that he is ready even, to sacrifice his fully make possess the for the wish, but Buddhas resolve it is he, in striving for the qualities that is that can success- no other. Of those who and only he, who has determination, strenuousness, and endeavor this great zeal, life successful. The make Buddha a will following comparisons intensity of the zeal. If he is that show the such a one as to think : "The man who, it all within the rim of the world were to become water, would be ready to swim across it with his own arms and get further shore, he all is the one to attain the Buddhaship within the rim : or, in case of the world were to become a CHAPTER 288 trample he side, a to all his is ; within the rim of the world were to become Jirma of thick-set javelins, would be ready tread on them and go afoot to the further side, terra he all would be ready to elbow and way through it and get to the further the one to attain the Buddhaship or, in of bamboo, jungle case XI. the one to attain the Buddhaship is within the rim of the world were to or, in case become live ; coals, would be ready to tread on them and so get he is the one to attain the to the further side, he if Buddhaship,' hard deems not even one of these himself but has such great zeal, determination, strenuousness, and power of endeavor feats too that he for would perform these the Buddhaship, wish succeed." From this is it become a Buddha that aspiration believe in the not but then, feats in order to attain otherwise, will his apparent that everybody could not Buddhism the highest cherished by him was to in "primitive" could be teachings of ; to follow the Buddha, Arhatship. down by him, and to attain at most to The idea of Arhatship, however, was considered by Mahayanists precepts laid hard-hearted, for cold, impassionate, and the saint calmly reviews the sight of the suffering masses; and therefore Arhatship altogether unsatisfactory to be the object was for the Bodhisattvas of their high religious aspirations. The Mahayanists wanted to go even attainment of Arhatship, however exalted may be. They wanted to beyond the its spirituality make every humble soul CHAPTER a like being to akyamuni, the distribute remove of bliss XI. 289 wanted they enlightenment they wanted ; the barriers that were supposed to all between Buddhahood and the common how the iron handsjpf when could they do this held the tight to lavishly of each individual! fate lie humanity. But How karma was it for him to identify his being with the ideal of mankind? Perhaps this serious problem could not possible very well be solved by Buddhists, when their of the personality majestic vivid before easy task mental eyes. their for them to memory of (Jakyamuni was It still was probably no overcome the feeling of awe and reverence which was so deeply engraved in their hearts, and to raise themselves to such a height as reached by their Master, even ideally. This was certainly an act of sacrilege. But, as time advances, the personal recollection of the Master would naturally wane and would not play so much influence as their own religious consciousness which is ever fresh and active. Generally speaking, all great historical characters that command awe of posterity do so only when the reverence and their words secrets of the or human and reverence and much or acts both heart. even And of the unravel deepest this feeling of worship is awe not due so great characters themselves as to the own worshiper's religious consciousness. History passes, to the An individual called (Jakyamuni in the course of time, but the sacred be may forgotten chord in the inmost heart struck by him reverberates but the heart persists. through eternity. So with the Mahayana Buddhists, 19 CHAPTER 29O the religious sentiment at. last XI. asserted itself in spite of the personal recollection and reverential feeling for the Master. And perhaps in the following by them great problem of Buddhahood. the reasoning then advanced We are all Bodhisatlvas. As (Jakyamuni was a Bodhisattva destined to become a Buddha, lives and Bodhisattvas way was relative to the even Buddhas in his so we former are all in a certain sense, when we understand that all sentient beings, the Buddha not excepted, are one in the Dharmakaya. The Dharmakaya manifests in us as Bodhi which is the of Buddhas as well as of Bodhisattvas. essence This Bodhi can suffer no change whatever in quantity even when the Bodhisattva attains finally to the highest human perfection as (Jakyamuni Buddha. In this spirit, therefore, the Buddha exclaimed when he obtained enlightenment, "It is marvelous indeed that all beings animate and inanimate universally partake of the nature of Tathagatahood." The only difference between a Buddha and the ignorant masses is that the latter do not make manifest in them the glory of Bodhi. JThey only are not Bodhisattvas who, enveloped the divine sophically review the world of tribulations. mortals in rays of light in a celestial abode, philo- made Even we of dust are Bodhisattvas, incarnates ot the Bodhi, capable of being united in the all-embracing love of the Dharmakaya and also of obliterating the CHAPTER karma individual curse of XI. 2Q1 and absolute in the eternal intelligence of the Dharmakaya. As soon as we come to live in this love and intelligence, individual existences no hindrance to the turning over (parivarta) of are one's spiritual merits (punyd) to the service of others. Let us only have an insight into the spirituality of our existence and we are all Bodhisattvas and Buddhas. us abandon the selfish thought of entering into Nirvana that is conceived to extinguish the fire of Let heart and leave only the cold ashes of intellect. Let have us over all sympathy for all suffering beings and turn our merits, however small, to their benefit and happiness. For Bodhisattvas. in this way we are all made the ! The Buddha's Life. This spirit of universal love prevails in all Mahayana literature, and the Bodhisattvas are everywhere represented as exercising it with utmost energy. The Mahayanists, a. therefore, simple, prosaic, 1 It could not rest satisfied with and earthly account of Qakyamuni, interesting to Christian readers to note in this that modern Buddhists do not reject altogether may be connection the idea of vicarious atonement, for their religious conviction as seen here admits the parivarta of a Bodhisattva's merits to the spiritual welfare of his fellow-creatures. But they will to the Christian interpretation that Jesus was sent object down on earth by his heavenly father for the special mission to atone for the original sin through the shedding of his innocent blood, for this is altogether too puerile and materialistic CHAPTER 2Q2 they wanted to "illustrating make it XI. as ideal and poetic as possible, the gospel of love, as was conceived by them, in every phase of the The Mahayanists first of the Buddha. life the placed Tusita heaven before his birth, (as made him world below, made him Hinayanists,) Buddha in the was done by the feel pity for the distressed resolve to deliver it from ocean of misery which throws up sickness as foam, tossing with the waves of old age, and rush- "the its ing with dreadful onflow the of death," and after they made him abide Mount Vulture delivering his Parinirvana, forever on the peak of the the sermon of immortality to a great assemblage of spiritual beings. In this they explained the significance of the wise, akyamuni on appearance of earth, which was noth- ing but a practical demonstration of the "Great Loving Heart" (mahdkarundcitta). The Bodhisattva and Love. Nagarjuna in his work on the Bodhicitta * elucidates the Mahayanist notion of Bodhisattvahood as follows "Thus the essential nature of all Bodhisattvas great loving heart (mahdkarundcitta}, and all is : a sentient beings constitute the object of its love. Therefore, all the Bodhisattvas do not cling to the blissful taste 1 The full title of the work is A Treatise on the Transcen- of Bodhicitta (Nanjo, No. 1304). It is a little book consisting of seven or eight sheets in big Chinese type. It dentality was translated into Chinese by Danapala (Shih Hu) during the tenth century of the Christian Era. CHAPTER that is by the produced XI. 293 modes of mental divers (dkydna), do their meritorious deeds, which tranquilisation covet the not may heighten fruit their of own happiness. "Their behind them is higher they do not leave for (Jravakas, truism, state spiritual [as than that of the all sentient beings the (Jravakas do]. They practise althe fruit of Buddha-knowledge seek they [instead of (Jravaka-knowledge]. ''With a of sufferings in loving great all heart who beings, they look upon the are diversely tortured a hell Avici Hell in consequence of their sins whose of misery made is possible on account of karma [committed by sattvas and where an endless round limits are infinite filled with sentient creatures] and pity love desire all sorts of The Bodhito suffer themselves for the sake of those miserable beings. "But they are well acquainted with the truth that diverse sufferings causing diverse states of misery are in one sense apparitional and unreal, while all those in another that those sense who they are not so. They know also have an intellectual insight into the emptiness (cunyata) of derstand why those all existences, thoroughly un- rewards of karma are brought forth in such and such ways [through ignorance and infatuation]. Bodhisattvas, in order to emancipate from sentient beings misery, are inspired with great spiritual energy and mingle themselves in the filth of "Therefore, all birth and death. Though thus they make themselves , CHAPTER 2Q4 to subject XI. the laws of birth and death, their hearts and attachments. They are like unto those immaculate, undefiled lotus-flowers which are from free sins grow out of mire, yet are not contaminated by it. "Their great hearts ot sympathy which constitute the essence of their being never leave suffering creatures behind [in their journey towards enlightenment]. Their spiritual insight the in is (cunyata) of emptiness things, but [their work of salvation] " the world of sins and sufferings is never outside The Meaning of Bodhi and Bodhicitta. What It is word "Bodhisattva" ? the meaning of the a Sanskrit term consisting of two words, "Bodhi," is and "sattva." budh Bodhi which "to meaning comes wake/' is from the generally root rendered "knowledge" or "intelligence." Sattva(sat-tva) literally means or "state of being" which "that ; thus "existence," "creature," its English equivalent. "Bodhisattva" as one word means "a being of intelligence," or "a being whose essence is intelligence." Why the Mahayanists is," came tinction to (Jravaka is being to adopt this word easily understood, in contradis- when we see what special significance they attached to the conception of Bodhi in their philosophy. by did it not came bear Bodhi was used of it any particular import. But as soon as to express conception its When the (Jravakas in the simple sense of knowledge, some metaphysical Dharmakaya, generally accepted sense. it relation to the ceased to be used in CHAPTER XI. 295 Bodhi, according to the Mahayanists, sion of the in the Dharmakaya human is an expres- consciousness. Philosophically speaking, Suchness or Bhutatathata an ontological term, and or Buddha bears a Dharmakaya religious is or Tathagata significance ; while all these three, Bodhi, Bhutatathata, and Dharmakaya, and their synonyms are nothing but different aspects of one same reality refracting through the several and the defective lenses of a finite intellect. though essentially an epistemological term, psychological sense when it is used in Bodhi, assumes a with conjunction used generally texts, especially above its gence-heart is sised i.e. citta, or Bodhihrdaya which heart or soul. Bodhicitta, means the same Bodhi singly than when its religious thing, in the import is more Mahayana is empha- intellectual one. (Bodhicitta, viz. intelli^fr , '" ^ a reflex religious archetype, the Bodhicitta when in human ' its is, is called anuttara- "intelligence-heart that supreme and most perfect." It will be easily understood now that what consti- tutes the essence of the Bodhicitta thing that is r....jLMi heart of Dharmakaya. further amplified samyak-sambodhicitta, that is the nothing is the very same makes up the Dharmakaya. For the former but an expression of the latter, though finitely, fragmentarily, imperfectly realised in us. The an image and the Dharmakaya the prototype, one is yet just as real as the other, only the two must not be conceived dualistically. There is a Dharmakaya, citta is there is a human heart, and the former reflects itself VttttLte CHAPTER the in latter much after reflection in the water: correct; perfectly of Buddhism is human the former in the same the the fashion of the lunar to think in this wise is not because the fundamental teaching to view the Dharmakaya, XI. all these three conceptions, heart, and the reflections of latter, as different forms of one and activity. Love and Karund. The the Bodhicitta or Intelligence-heart, therefore, like Dharmakaya is essentially love to use Sanskrit terms, or, some may object and intelligence, karund and prajnd. Here to the use of the term "love" for karuna, perhaps on the ground that karuna does not exactly correspond to the Christian notion of love, more of the sense of commiseration. But savors as it if we understand by love a sacrifice of the self for the sake of others (and it cannot be more than that), then karuna can correctly be rendered love, even in the Christian sense. Is not the Bodhisattva willing to abandon his own Nirvanic peace for the interests of suffering creatures? Is he not willing to dedicate the karma of his meritorious deeds performed in his suc- cessive existences to the general welfare of his fellow- beings ? all his not his one fundamental motive that governs activities in life directed towards a universal Is emancipation of all sentient beings? Is he not per- fectly willing to forsake all the thoughts and passions egoism and to embrace the will of the Dharmakaya? If this be the case, then there is that arise from CHAPTER XI. 297 no reason why karun& should not be rendered by love. Christians say that without love we are become sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal; and Buddhists would declare that without karuna we are like unto a dead vine hanging over a frozen boulder, or like unto the cold ashes left after a blazing fire. Some may say, however, that the Buddhist symsomewhat betrays a sense of pathy or commiseration passive evils. contemplation God that ojf- When Christians say loves his creatures, the loyje implies activity and shows God's willingness to do whatever for the Yet actual benefits of his subject -beings. Quite true. when the Buddha is stated to have declared that sentient beings in the triple world are his or ren unless that he will not enter into his own final all child- Nirvana beings in the three thousand great chilionot a single soul excepted, are emancipated all cosms, from the misery of birth and death, his self-sacrificing love must be considered to be all-comprehensive and at the same time ever objections full there of energy and activity. Whatmay be, we do not see any sufficient reason against speaking of the love-essence of the Dharmakaya and the Bodhicitta. Ndgdrjuna and Sthiramati on Says Nagarjuna dentahty from all in the in his the Bodhicitta. Discourse on the Transcen- of the Bodhicitta: "The Bodhicitta is free not included is, it is determinations, that categories of the five skandhas, the twelve ayatanas, and the eighteen dhatus. It is not a particular CHAPTER 298 existence which is palpable. and uncreate is It its XI. It is non-atmanic, universal. self-essence is void [funya, immaterial, or transcendental]. "One who understands sees everything the nature of the Bodhicitta with a loving heart,, for love is the t essence of the Bodhicitta. "The Bodhicitta "Therefore, all the highest essence. Bodhisattvas find their raison d'etre is of existence in this great loving heart. "The Bodhicitta, abiding in the heart of sameness (samatd) creates individual means of salvation (upay a). l 1 meaning "expedient," "stratagem," "device," or a technical sense in Buddhism. It is used in contrast to intelligence (prajna) and is synonymous with love Upaya, "craft," has says in the sutra bearing his name "Prajna is the mother of the Bodhisattva and Upaya his father; there is no leader of humanity who is not born of them." Intelligence (prajna) is the one, the univer(karuna). So, Vimalakirti (chap. verses 8, i 4): representing the principle of sameness (samatd}. while is the many, being the principle of manifoldness (ndndtva). From the standpoint of pure intelligence, the Bodhisattvas sal, Upaya do not see any particular suffering existences, for there is nothing that is not of the Dharmakaya: but when they see the universe from the standpoint of their love-essence, they everywhere the conditions of misery and sin that from clinging to the forms of particularity. ^To remove these, they devise all possible means that are directed towards the attainment of the final aim of is only existencejJThere one religion, religion of truth, but there are many ways, many means, many upayas, all issuing from the all-embracing love ot the Dharmakaya and equally efficient to lead the masses to supreme enlightenment and universal good. Therefore, ontologically speaking, this universe, the Buddhists would say, recognise arise is nothing but a grand display of Upayas by the Dharmakaya that desires thereby to lead all sentient beings to the ultimate CHAPTER 299 XI. One who understands this heart becomes emancipated view of birth and death and performs such acts as are beneficial both to oneself and to others.'* from the dualistic Sthiramati advocates in his Discourse on the Mahay dna- Dharmadhdtu nature of * the the same view Bodhicitta, on the as Nagarjuna's which I summarise here : "Nirvana, Dharmakaya, Tathagata, Tathagata-garbha, Paramartha, Buddha, Bodhicitta, or Bhutatathata, all these terms signify merely so many different aspects one and of name as it same the given to a reality ; and Bodhicitta the is form of the Dharmakaya or Bhutatathata manifests itself the in perfection, or negatively its human liberation heart] from all and egoistic impurities, constitutes the state of Nirvana." reflex of the a Being practically the is same its r^ Dharmakaya, the Bodhicitta as the original in acteristics; so continues Sthiramati: "It its char- free from all is compulsive activities it has no beginning, it has no end it cannot be defiled by impurities, it cannot be ; ; obscured egoistic individualistic prejudices; by incorporeal, realisation of it is the Buddhahood. it is spiritual essence of Buddhas, In many cases, thus, it is extremely render upaya by any of its English equivalents and yet to retain its original technical sense unsuffered. This is also the case with many other Buddhist terms, among which difficult to we may mention etc. The Chinese Bodhi, Dharmakaya, Prajila, Citta, Parivarta, translators have fang p'ien for upaya which means "means-accommodation." Its full title is A Discourse on the Non-duality of the Mahay ana- Dharmadhdtu. It consists of less than a dozen pages in ordinary Chinese large print. It was translated by Devaprajna and others in the year 691 A. D. 1 CHAPTER 3OO it the source of all virtues earthly as well as transcen- is it dental; "It which becoming, constantly its yet original lost. may be likened unto the ever-shining sunlight may temporarily be hidden behind the clouds. All the may is never is purity but XI. modes of passion and sometimes the darken from egoism light of the Bodhicitta, forever remains free from these Citta itself external impurities. sin arising It the may again be likened unto all- comprehending space which remains eternally identical, whatever happenings and changes may occur in things enveloped itself in When therein. a relative world, the it Bodhicitta looks as to constant becoming, but in reality it determinations, is above the if it manifests being subject transcends all reach of birth and death (samsdra). "So long as it remains buried under innumerable arising from ignorance and egoism, it is productive of no earthly or heavenly benefit. Like the sins whose lotus-flower gold that is petals are yet unfolded, like the deeply entombed under the debris of dung and dirt, or like the light of the full moon eclipsed by Acura; the Bodhicitta, when blindfolded by the clouds of passion, avarice, ignorance, and folly, does not reveal "Destroy its intrinsic spiritual worth. once at those entanglements ; with your might and main all then like the full-bloomed lotus- and dust, the sun in its flower, like genuine gold purified from dirt like the full moon glory, in a cloudless sky, like like mother earth producing all kinds of CHAPTER cereals, like the the eternal XI. 3OI ocean containing innumerable treasures, of the Bodhicitta will be upon all bliss sentient beings. All sentient beings are then emanci-, from the misery of ignorance and folly, their hearts are filled with love and sympathy and free pated from the clinging to things worthless. ^"However defiled and obscured the Bodhicitta find itself in profane hearts, )j is essentially the may same Buddhas.lTherefore, says the Muni of akya: 'O ariputra, the world of sentient beings is not different from the Dharmakaya the Dharmakaya as that in all ; is not different What from the constitutes sentient beings; sentient beings "As far as is Dharmakaya is the world of and what constitutes the world of the Dharmakaya.' the concerned, there the world of sentient beings. is Dharmakaya or the Bodhicitta no radical distinction to between profane hearts and the Buddha's when observed from the human be is made heart; yet standpoint [that is, from the phenomenal side of existence] the following general classification can be made: The "(i) egoistic heart hopelessly distorted sins by numberless and condemned to an eternal transmi- gration of birth and death which began in;the timeless past, "(2) in said to be in the state of profanity. is The birth heart that, loathing the misery of wandering and death and taking leave of all sinful and depraved conditions, seeks the Bodhi in the ten virtues of perfection (pdramita) and 84.000 Buddhadharmas and disciplines itself in all meritorious deeds, CHAPTER 3O2 is The "(3) from the all be the to said has of is essence the all eternally corruptions, in state of a Bodhisattva. which the heart obscuration and sins abides [spiritual] state in sufferings, XI. has emancipated passions, has distanced the stain of effaced pure, all and purest, purer, of Dharma, has reached the height from which the states of surveyed, is the attained all sentient beings are consummation of all knowledges, has realised the highest type of manhood, has gained the power of spiritual spontaneity which one frees state spiritual attachment and that of the fully, from is this hesitation, perfectly, enlight- ened Tathagata". The Awakening of the Bodhicitta. The Bodhicitta sentient beings. and active ordinary is Only with mortals present in Buddhas the it immaculate its it in is of hearts fully virility, all awakened while in dormant and miserably crippled is unenlightened intercourse with the world of sensuality. One of the most favorite parables told by the Mahayanists to illustrate this point is to compare by its the Bodhicitta to the moonlight in the heavens. When the moon shines with her silvery light in the clear, cloudless skies, she in mass of every is reflected in every drop water dews on the quivering on the earth. The crystal leaves reflect her like so pearls hung on the branches. Every little and many water-pool; probably formed temporarily by heavy showers in the daytime, reflects her like so many stars descended CHAPTER on XI. 3O3 Perhaps some of the pools are muddy and filthy, but the moonlight does not refuse her immaculate image in them. The image earth. others even to reflect is as just perfect there as in a clear, undisturbed, transparent lake, where cows quench their thirst and swans bathe the least trace of water, there is Bodhicitta: seen a heavenly goddess night. Even so with the where there exists a little warmth of the there heart, is of of the image Wherever there their taintless feathers. it unfailingly glorifies itself in its best ' as circumstances permit. the Now, Bodhicitta This sense? almost recite question our in is is : hearts How be should this dormant awakened to answered more or less its full definitely in Mahayana writings, and we may here the words of Vasubandhu from his Discourse all the on the Awakening of the Bodhicitta, * for they give somewhat systematic statement of those conditions which tend to awaken the Bodhicitta from its us a lethargic inactivity. (Chap. The us (i) II.) Bodhicitta or Intelligence-heart is by thinking of the Buddhas, (2) faults of material existence, (3) on the awakened in by reflecting by observing M the deplorable state in which sentient beings are living, and are finally (4) acquired by aspiring after those virtues which by a Tathagata in the highest enlight- enment. This work was translated by Kumarajiva into Chinese at fifth century A. D. It is divided into two fascicles, each consisting of about one score of Chinese pages. 1 the beginning of the CHAPTER 3O4 XI. To describe these conditions (1) By thinking of the the present, : Buddhas. "All Buddhas the when first started were not quite enment, finally definitely in quarters, of the past, of the future, and of ten (kle$ a) more free on their to enlight- way from passions and sins any more than we are at present but they succeeded in attaining the highest enlightenment ; and became the noblest beings. "All the spiritual Buddhas, by strength of their inflexible energy, were capable of attaining perfect enlightenment. why should we If enlightenment not attain it? is attainable at all, "All dom the Buddhas, erecting high the torch of wisthrough the darkness of ignorance and keeping awake an excellent submitted themselves to heart, penance and mortification, and finally emancipated themselves from the bondage of the triple world. Following their steps, we, too, could emancipate ourselves, "All the Buddhas, the noblest type of mankind, successfully crossed the great ocean of birth and death and of passions and sins ; why, then, we, being crea- tures of intelligence, could also cross the sea of trans- migration. "All the Buddhas manifesting great spiritual power sacrificed the possessions, body, and life, for the attain- ment of omniscience (sarvajna); and we, too, could follow their noble examples." The faults of the material existence. "This our bodily existence consisting of the five skandhas and (2) the four mahats (elements) is a perpetuator of innu- CHAPTER merable This aside. from its deeds evil XI. 3O5 and therefore ; it should be cast our bodily existence constantly secretes and impurities which are and therefore it should be cast aside. nine orifices truly loathsome ; filths This our bodily existence, harboring within itself anger, avarice, and infatuation, and other innumerable evil passions, consumes a good heart ; and therefore it should be destroyed. This our bodily existence is like a bubble, like a spatter, and is decaying every minute. It is an undesirable possession and should be aban- doned. This our bodily existence engulfed is creating evil karma in ignorance the time, which throws us all the whirlpool of transmigration through the six into gatis." (3) The miserable conditions of sentient beings which arouse the sympathy of the Bodhisattvas. "All sentient beings are under the bondage of ignorance. Spell-bound by folly and infatuation, they are suffering the severest Not believing pain accumulating ing deeper in the law of karma, they are going evils; righteousness, they in astray from the path of are following false doctrines the whirlpool of ; sink- passions, they are being drowned in the four waters of sin. "They are being tortured with all sorts of pain. They are needlessly haunted by the fear of birth and death and old age, and do not seek the path of emancipation. Mortified with grief, anxiety, tribulation, they do not refrain from committing further foul deeds. Clinging to their beloved ones and being always afraid of separation, they do not understand that there 20 CHAPTER 3O6 is no individual pain, they cherish to. the Tathdgata. "All the Tatha- virtue of their discipline, have acquired a by gatas, Trying to shun enmity, hatred, more hatred." The virtues of (4) that individual existences are reality, not worth clinging XI. dignified mien which aspires every beholder with the thought that dispels pain and woe. The Dharmakaya of all the Tathagatas is immortal and pure noble, and from free attachments. All the Tathagatas evil are possessed of moral discipline, tranquillity, intelli- gence, and emancipation. They are not hampered by intellectual prejudices and have become the sanctuary / of immaculate virtues. They have the ten balas (powers), four abhayas (fearlessness), great compassion, and the three smrtyupasthanas (contemplations). They are omniscient, and their love for suffering beings bounds and brings all creatures back to the path of who have gone righteousness, knows no astray on account of ignorance." * * * In short, the Intelligence-heart or Bodhicitta kened in us either is (which when innate in us) is awa- love for suffering creatures is called forth, or when our aspires after the highest enlightenment, or these two psychical activities are set astir under intellect when some favorable circumstances. manifestation of the scious mind, it As Dharmakaya the Bodhicitta in is a our limited con- constantly longs for a unification with CHAPTER XI. archetype, in spite of the curse of ignorance heavweighing upon it. When this unification is not ef- its ily fected for any reason, the heart (citta) shows satisfaction may in some way or The its dis- dissatisfaction take sometimes a morbid course, and may result misanthropy, or suicide, or asceticism, in pessimism, or some other kindred or other. eccentric practices. But if pro- perly guided and naturally developed, the more intense the dissatisfaction, the more energetic will be the spiritual activity of a Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva 's Pranidhdna. Having awakened his Bodhicitta ous slumber, a Bodhisattva from its unconsci- now proceed to make vows. his Let a will me remark here, however, that "vow" is not very appropriate term to express the meaning of the Sanskrit pranidhdna. Pranidhana aspiration, prayer, is a strong wish, or an inflexible determination to even through an infinite series of rebirths. Buddhists have such a supreme belief in carry the out one's power of will will limitations, the will or spirit that, whatever material is sure to triumph over them and gain its final aim. So, every Bodhisattva is considered to have his own particular pranidhanas in order to perform his share in the work of universal salvation. His corporeal shadow may vanish as its karma is exhausted, but his pranidhana survives and takes on a new garment, which procedure being necessary to CHAPTER 3O8 keep XI. ever effective. All that it dhisattva to do this of his carnation is own to make for a Bo- aspirations, putting everything and foreign under external needed is himself a perfect in- their controlling spiritual power Buddhists are so thoroughly idealistic and their faith in ideas and ideals is so unshakable that they come more in- firmly believe that whatever they aspire to will out finally as real fact; and, therefore, the and permanent and born of the inmost needs of humanity, the more certain are our yearnings to tense be (This belief, by the way, will help to ex- satisfied. the plain belief popular the Buddhists that among man will survive any strong passion possessed by him and take a form, animate or inanimate, which a will best achieve to According its end.) Vasubandhu whom we have quoted several times, the Bodhisattvas generally are supposed make to the following 'ten from a great loving heart now awakened rally spring them: in " (1) pranidhanas, which natu- * Would that all the merits I have accumulated the past as well as in the present be distributed in among all sentient beings and make them all aspire supreme knowledge, and also that this my pranidhana be constantly growing in strength and sustain after me throughout (2) 1 "Would The above Chapter III, in is my that, rebirths. through the merits of my work, a liberal rendering of the first part of the Vasubandhu's Bodhicitta. CHAPTER I XI. 3O9 may, wherever I am born, come in the presence of Buddhas and pay them homage. (3) "Would that I be allowed all the time to be all near Buddhas like shadow following object, and never to be away from them. "Would (4) that all Buddhas my truths as finally attain the five spiritual best suited to instruct me in religious and intelligence let me powers of the Bodhi- sattva. (5) "Would scientific religion that I be thoroughly conversant with knowledge as well as the first principle of and gain an insight into the truth of the Good Law. (6) "Would truth to all that and make them (7) "Would Buddha, ters of I I be able to preach untiringly the beings, and gladden them, and benefit them, intelligent. through the divine power of the be allowed to travel all over the ten quar- the that, pay respect to world, all the Buddhas, listen to their instructions in the Doctrine, sally benefit all and univer- sentient beings. "Would that, by causing the wheel of immacuDharma to revolve, all sentient beings in the ten quarters of the universe who may listen to my teach(8) late ings or hear awaken (9) tect in my "Would all name, be freed from them the that I all passions and Bodhicitta. all accompany and proremove for them things the time sentient beings and which are not beneficial to them and give them innumerable blessings, and also that through the sacrifice CHAPTER 3IO of my body, life, XI. and possessions I embrace all crea- tures and thereby practise the Right Doctrine. "Would (10) in person, my though practising the Doctrine heart be free from the consciousness that, of compulsion and unnaturalness, as all tvas practise the Doctrine in such a way tising made it yet leaving nothing unpractised their beings." pranidhanas the Bodhisat- ; as not prac- for they for the sake of all have sentient CHAPTER XII. TEN STAGES OF BODHISATTVAHOOD Gradation in our Spiritual Life. 'THEORETICALLY above, the Bodhi or Bodhicitta being, and in this sense he is we have as speaking, is in seen every sentient a Bodhisattva. In profane be found enveloped in ignorance and can never be altogether annulled. For the Bodhi, when viewed from its absolute aspect, transcends hearts may it egoism, but the realm the world it of birth and death (samsdra), is beyond of toil and trouble and is not subject to any form of defilement. But when it assumes a relative existence and is only partially manifested under the cover of ignorance, there appear various stages of actualisation or of perfection. In attain a some beings more meaningful expression than while there may who be even those it may in others, apparently fail on account of their accursed karma to show the evidence of its presence. This latter class is usually called "Icchan- is, people who are completely overwhelmed passions. They are morally and religiously a tika," that by the mere corpse which even a great spiritual physician finds almost impossible to resuscitate. But, philosophically considered, the glory of the Bodhi must be admitted it CHAPTER 312 XII. to be shining even in these dark, ignorant souls. Such souls, perhaps, will have to go round many a cycle . of transmigration, before their karma loses its poignancy and becomes susceptible to a moral influence may come with which they This force of accursed in contact. karma is not the same in admits of all possible degrees of strength, beings, and causes some to suffer more intensely than others. all it But there free this no human heart or soul that is is absolutely from the shackle of karma and ignorance, because very existence of a phenomenal world is a product does not prove that this life is evil. The only heart that transcends the influence of karma and ignorance and is all-purity, of ignorance, all-love, and though fact all-intelligence, is the Bodhi absolute this itself. The life Dharmakaya or the of a Bodhisattva and indeed the end of our religious aspiration is to unfold, realise, and identify ourselves with the love and intelligence of that ideal The awakening heart) of marks the human eral life. of stages perfection. real Dharmakaya. of the Bodhicitta (or intelligencefirst step towards the highest good This awakening must pass through sevreligious discipline before it attains These stages are generally estimated by the Mahayanists modern and yet at ten. sceptical sequence, nor can They appear, however, to our minds to be of no we significant con- detect any very practical and well-defined distinction between successive stages. fail to We understand what religious necessity impelled the Hindu Buddhists to establish such apparently un- CHAPTER important one stages XII. 313 another in our religious after We can see, however, that the first awakening of the Bodhicitta does not transform us all at once life. to Buddhahood we have yet to ; uous efforts overcome with karma and the baneful influence of norance which asserts strenig- too readily in our prac- itself But the marking of stages as in the gradaour Dagabhumi spiritual progress seems to be altogether too artificial. Nevertheless I here take tical life. tion of the an as pains in historical stages and to give characteristic of the us survey to enumerate the ten some features supposed to be eachBhumi (staged as most expounded in Avatamsaka Sutra. ProDably they will help understand what moral conceptions and what to religious aspirations were working in the of the doctrine of Dagabhumi, for it establishment elaborately de- what was considered by the Mahayanists to be the essential constituents of Bodhisattvahood, and also scribes shows what spiritual routine a Buddhist was expected to pursue. r ( The .,.. -. ten stages are: (i) Pramudita, (2) Vimala, (3) Prabhakari, (4) Arcismati, Durangama, (7) (8) (5) Sudurjaya, (6) Abhimukhi, Acala, (9) Sadhumati, (10) Dhar- mamegha. (i) The Pramudita. Pramudita means "delight" or "joy" and marks the stage of Bodhisattvahood, at which the Buddhists first emerge from a cold, self-sufficing, and almost nihilistic contemplation of Nirvana as fostered by the Qravakas CHAPTER 314 and This Pratyekabuddhas. is emancipation intense emergence and accompanied by an as that which is experienced person when he unexpectedly a by most spiritual psychologically of joy, feeling XII. recognises the familiar face in a faraway land of strangers. For this reason the first stage is called "joy." Even midst of perfect tranquillity of Nirvana passions are alleged to have died away in the in which as declared all ascetics or solitary philosophers, the by voice in the heart of the Bodhisattva moans in a sort of dissatisfaction or uneasiness, which, though inmost undefined and seemingly of no significance, yet refuses to be eternally buried in the silent grave of annihilation. He vainly gropes in the darkness ; he vainly seeks consolation in the samadhi of non-resistance or non- he vainly finds eternal peace in the gospel of self-negation his soul is still troubled, not exactly knowing the reason why. But as soon as the Bodhicitta activity ; ; is awakened from its somnolence, warmth of love (mahakaruna) pene- (intelligence-heart) as soon as the trates into the coldest cell of asceticism, as soon as the light of supreme enlightenment (mahdprajna) dawns upon the darkest recesses of ignorance, the Bodhisattva sees at seclusion is if once that the world is not made for self- nor for self-negation, that the Dharmakaya the source of "universal effulgence," that Nirvana relatively viewed in contrast to birth-and-death is nothing but sham and just as unreal as any worldly existence; and these insights finally lead him to feel that he cannot rest quiet until all sentient beings are I CHAPTER emancipated from the same position to the (2) XII. 315 snarl of ignorance as and elevated now occupied by himself. The Vimald. Vimala means "freedom from defilement," matively, When "purity." the Bodhisattva through the spiritual insight gained to second it and rectitude is puntyof or, affir- attains, at the first stage, heart, he the reaches His heart is now thoroughly spotless, with tenderness, he fosters no anger, no stage. filled He is free from all the thoughts of killing animate any beings. Being contented with what belongs to himself, he casts no covetous eyes on things not malice. his own. Faithful to his own thoughts on others. harbor any always true, faithful, kind, evil truth, honesty, betrothed, he does not and never (3) His words are and considerate. He likes flatters. The Prabhdkari. Prabhakart means "brightness," that is, of the intellect. This predominantly characterises the spiritual of condition the Bodhisattva at this stage. Here he gains the most penetrating insight into the nature of things. He recognises that all things that are created are not permanent, are conducive to misery, have no abiding selfhood (atmari], are destitute of purity, and subject to final subject to destruction, He recognises also that the real nature of things, however, is neither created nor selfsame essence, decay. it is eternally abiding in the and transcends the limits of time / CHAPTER 3l6 XII. and space. Ignorant beings not seeing this truth are always worrying over things transient and worthless, and constantly consuming their spiritual energy with the of fire avarice, anger, and infatuation, which in turn accumulates for their future existences the ashes of misery and suffering. This wretched condition of sentient the beings further stimulates the loving heart of Bodhisattva to seek the highest intelligence of which, giving him great spiritual energy, enahim to prosecute the gigantic task of universal Buddha, bles His desire for the Buddha-intelligence and his faith in it are of such immense strength that emancipation. he would not assured of even for a moment, if he is only attainment of the priceless treasure, falter the to plunge himself into the smeltering (4) Arcismati, to given consumes fire of a volcano. The Arcismati. meaning "inflammation," is name the the fourth stage, at which the Bodhisattva all the sediments of ignorance and evil passions in the fiery crucible of the purifying Bodhi. He practises here most strenuously the thirty-seven virtues called Bodhipaksikas which are conducive to the perfection of the Bodhi. These virtues consist of seven categories : (I) Four Contemplations (smrtyusthdna): I. On the impurity of the body; 2 On the evils of sensuality; 3. On the evanescence of the wordly interests 4. On ; the non-existence of atman (II) in things composite. Four Righteous Efforts (samyakprahdna) : i To CHAPTER existing; To (III) 3. 317 2. To suppress evils already To produce good not yet in existence; prevent evils from arising 4. XII. ; preserve good already in existence. Four Forces of the Will (tddhipdda): determination accomplish what to energy to concentrate the is willed; mind on the object The power of retaining the The .intelligence that perceives 3. object in the way (IV) Five Powers (indrya), from which is 4. 2. i. 2. in The The view memory ; ; 4. to Nirvana. all moral good Faith; Circumspection; Energy Equilibrium, or tranquillity of mind 5 Intelligence. * (V) Five Functions (bala) Same as the above. produced: I. ; 3. ; : (VI) Seven Constituents of the Bodhi (bodkyanga) I. The retentive power; 4. Contentment; 7. Large-heartedness. (VII) Right The view; 5. 2. Discrimination; Modesty; 3. Energy : ; The balanced mind; 6. Eightfold Noble 2. resolve; Path (aryamarga): I. Right speech; 4. Right livelihood; 6 Right recollec- Right 3. Right conduct; 5. 8 Right tranquilisation, or contemplation. tion ; J The distinction between the five indriyas and the five balas seems to be rather redundant. But the Hindu philosophers usually distinguish actor from action, agent from function or operation. Thus the sense-organs are distinguished from sensations or sense-consciousnesses, and the manovijnana (mind) from its functions The atman has thus such as thinking, attention, memory, etc. come to be considered the central agent all the sensuous and intellectual activities. Though Buddhists do not recognise this differentiation of actor and action in reality, they sometimes loosely follow the that controls the popular usage. CHAPTER 3l8 (5) XII. The Sudurjaya. Sudurjaya means "very difficult to conquer." The Bodhisattva reaches this stage when he, completely armed with the thirty-seven Bodhipaksikas and guided the by beacon-light of Bodhi, undauntedly breaks through the column of evil passions. Provided with the two spiritual provisions, love and wisdom, and being by the benefitted spirits of all the Buddhas of the past, present, and future, the Bodhisattva has developed an power to penetrate deep intellectual He existence. into the system of perceives the Fourfold Noble Truth in true light; he perceives the highest reality in the its he also perceives that the highest reality, though absolutely one in its essence, manifests itself in a world of particulars, that relative knowledge Tathagata ; and absolute knowledge (paramarthd) are aspects of one and the same truth, that when (samvrtti) two subjectivity and that is disturbed when is it there appears particularity, not disturbed there shines only the eternal light of Tathagatajna (Tathagata-knowledge). (6) The Abhimukhi. Abhimukhi means "showing one's the presentation of face," that is, intelligence (prajHa) before the Bodhisattva at this stage. The Bodhisattva enters upon this stage by reflecting on the essence of all dharmas which are throughout of one is filled When he perceives the truth, his heart with great love, he serenely contemplates on nature. CHAPTER 319 XII. who are constantly going evil temptations, clinging themselves to astray yielding to the false conception of egoism, and thus making the life of ignorant beings themselves prey of eternal damnation. the proceeds to generally. There the contemplate development ignorance, there is is He then of evils karma and ; in this fertile soil of blind activity the seeds of conscious- ness are sown ; the moisture of desire thoroughly soaks them, to which the water of egoism or individuation poured on. The bed is is for all forms of particularity well prepared, and the buds of namarupas (name- and-form) most vigorously thrive here. From these we have the flowers of sense-organs, and which come in contact with other existences and produce impressions, feel agreeable sensations, and tenaciously cling to them. this clinging or the will to live as the principle From of individuation or as the principle of bhava as is of the five Twelve Nidanas, another body consisting skandhas comes into existence, and, passing all the phases of transformation, dissolves and called in the through disappears. All sentient beings are thus kept in a perpetual oscillation of combination and separation, of pleasure of and pain, birth and death. But the insight gone deeply into the inmost which forever remains the same and the Bodhisattva has essence of things, which there is no production and dissolution. in (7) The Durangamd. Durangama means "going far away." The Bodhisattva enters upon this stage by attaining the so-called CHAPTER 32O Upayajna, i e. the XII. knowledge that enables him to produce any means or work of salvation. He expediency suitable for his himself abides in the principles of gunyata (transcendentality), animitta (non-individuality), and apranihita (desirelessness), but his loving- him busily engaged among sentient He knows that Buddhas are not creatures kindness keeps beings. and essentially different from himself, but he does not stop tendering them due homage. He is alradically ways contemplating on the nature of the Absolute,but he does not abandon the practice of accumulating He merits. is no more encumbered with worldly thoughts, yet he does not disdain managing secular affairs. keeps himself perfectly aloof from the consuming of passsion, but he plans all possible means He fire for the sake of sentient beings to quench the enraging flames of avarice (lobka), anger (dvesa), and infatuation (moha). He knows that all individual existences are like dream, works and he but the reflection of the or mirage, toils in the moon in the water, world of particulars and submits himself to the domination of karma. is aware of the transcendental nature of Pure well Land (sukhdvati), but he describes it with material colors for the sake of unenlightened masses. that He Dharmakaya of the all He knows the Buddhas is not a material existence, but he does not refuse to dignify himself with the thirty-two major and eighty minor excellent features of a great He knows not fall man that the language of within the ken of or all god (makdpurusa). the Buddhas does human comprehension, but CHAPTER he endeavors with it enough intelligible He knows that 321 contrivances (upaya) to make to the understanding of people. the all and future sent, all XII. Buddhas perceive the past, pre- an eye, but he divers conditions of the material in the twinkling of adapts himself to world and endeavors to help sentient beings to understand the significance of the Bodhi according to their and destinies In short, the Bodhisattva dispositions. himself lives on a higher plane of spirituality far remov- from the defilements of worldliness ed ; but he does not withdraw himself to this serene, unmolested subjectivity ; he boldly sets out in the world of particu- and senses; and, placing himself on the level of ignorant beings, he works like them, he toils like lars and them, these and the ses, suffers like them ; and he never fails all times to practise the gospel of loyingkindness turn over (parivarta) all his merits towards to emancipation and spiritual edification of the masthat is, he never gets tired of practising the ten virtues of perfection (paramita). That is to say, (i) virtue of charity (dana] sentient creatures by following the all ^^ the Bodhisattva practises the by away freely giving to all the merits that he has acquired path of Buddhas. (2) He practises of good conduct (fila) by destroying all the evil passions that disturb serenity of mind. (3) He practises the virtue of patience (ksdnti), for he the virtue never gets irritated or excited over what him by ignorant beings. of strenuousuess (vriya), (4) for He is done to practises the virtue he never gets tired of 21 CHAPTER 322 XII. accumulating merits and of promoting good-will among fellow-creatures. his calmness (dhyana), steadily pursuing his in He (5) for his the virtue of practises mind way to is never distracted supreme knowledge. (6) He for he always restrains his thoughts from wandering practises the virtue of intelligence (prajna), away from the path of absolute truth. (7) He practises the virtue of tactfulness (updya), for he has an inex- mine of expediencies ready at his command the work of universal salvation. (8) He practises haustible for the virtue of will-to-do (pranidhdnd) by determinedly following the dictates of the highest intelligence. (9) He practises the virtue of strength (bala), for no evil no influences, thoughts can ever frustrate heretical or slacken his efforts for the general welfare of peo- he practises the virtue of knowledge, (jndna), by truthfully comprehending and expounding ple. (10) Finally, the ultimate nature of beings. (8) Acala, ''immovable," The Acald. is stage of Bodhisattvahood. the When name for the eighth a Bodhisattva, tran- forms of discursive or deliberate knowledge, scending acquires the highest, perfect knowledge called anutall pattikadharmaksanti, he is said to have gone beyond the seventh stage. Anutpattikadharmaksanti literally means "not-created-being-forbearance"; and the Buddhists use the term in the sense of keeping one's thoughts in conformity to the views that nothing in this world CHAPTER XII. 323 ever been created, that things are such as they are, i e. they are Suchness itself. This knowledge is has also called non-conscious or non-deliberate in contradistinction to relative tutes our all Strictly logical and demonstrative knowledge. this speaking, knowledge knowledge that consti- so-called knowledge in its knowledge it is is not a sort of ordinary signification, unconscious or subconscious intelligence, or immediate knowledge as some call it, in which not only willing and acting, but also knowing and willing are one single, or undivided natural altogether and is will light, of activity, exhibition transition from one to all logical the other being Here indeed knowledge is will action; "Let there be light," and there and the light is good; it is the state of a absent. is divine mind. At this stage of perfection, the Bodhisattva's spiri- tual condition is compared to that of a person who, attempting when in a dreamy state to cross deep waters, musters all his energy, plans all schemes, and, while at last at the point of starting on the journey, sudden- ly wakes up and finds all his elaborate preparations to no purpose. The Bodhisattva hitherto showed untir- ing spiritual efforts to attain the highest knowledge, steadily practised all virtues tending to the acquirement of Nirvana, and heroically endeavored to exterminate all evil passions, exercises, and he enters at the culmination of all all these of a sudden upon the stage and finds the previous elaboration mysteriously vanished from his conscious mind. He cherishes of Acala CHAPTER 324 XII. now no desire for Buddhahood, Nirvana, or Bodhicitta, much less after worldliness, egoism, or the satisfaction of evil passions. The conscious striving that distinguished all his former course has now given way to a of spontaneous state of saintly innocence, wills and it is done. activity, and of divine playfulness. He He aspires and it is actualised. He for there artificial nature herself, in his activity that betrays any lucubration, any voluntary or compulsory res- This state traint. called no trace is is of perfect which esthetical, ideal freedom may be characterises the work of a genius. There is here no trace of consciously following some prescribed laws, no pains of elaborately conforming to the formula. inner lilies I field whose glory in all his human remarks on Kant's and put this poetically, the of the Bodhisattva at this stage life of the Solomon To will is like is the greater than that of magnificence. this point are very suggestive, the following from his Kritik der quote Urteilskraft (Reclam edition, p. 173): "Also muss die Zweckmassigkeit im Produkte der schonen Kunst, ob sie zwar absichtlich ist, doch nicht absichtlich scheinen anzusehen bewusst der sein ist. Kunst , Als : d. i , schone Kunst muss ob man sich ihrer zwar als als Natur Kunst Natur aber erscheint ein Produkt dadurch, dass zwar a^le Piinktlichkeit in der Uebereinkunst mit Regeln, nach denen allein das Produkt das werden kann, was es soil sein, angetroffen wird, aber ohne Peinlichkeit, d. i., ohne eine Spur zu zeigen, dass die Regel dem Kiinstler vor Augen CHAPTER 325 XII. geschwebt und seinen Gemiithskraften Fesseln angelegt haben," J The Sadhumati. (9) Sadhumati, meaning "good intelligence," is the name given to the ninth stage of Bodhisattvahood. All the Bodhisattvas are to said have reached here, when sentient beings are benefitted by the Bodhisattva's attainment of the highest perfect knowledge, which unfathomable by the ordinary human intelligence. is The knowledge them leads to the Dharma of the deepest mystery, to the Samadhi of perfect spirituality, to the Dharani of divine spontaneity, to Love of absolute purity, to the Will of utmost freedom. The Bodhisattva Pratisamvids (i) acquire at this stage the four (comprehensive knowledge), which are Arthapratisamvid, (3) NirPratibhanapratisamvid. By the Dharmapratisamvid, uktipratisamvid, (4) Dharmapratisamvid, 1 will In this connection (2) the Bodhisattvas understand the it is very interesting also to note that same sentiment about the greatness of Hero Worship. "If I say that Shakspeare Carlyle expresses the Shakespeare in his greatest of Intellects, I have said all concerning him. But there is more in Shakspeare's intellect than we have yet seen It is what I call an unconscious intellect there is more is the ; aware of. Novalis beautifully remarks of him, that those dramas of his are Products ol Nature too, as deep as Nature herself. I find a great truth in this saying, Shakspeare's Art is not Artifice the noblest worth of it is not there by plan or precontrivance. It grows from virtue in it that he himself is ; the deeps of Nature, through this noble sincere soul, voice of Nature." who is a CHAPTER 326 self- essence (sv.abhava) of XII. all beings; by the Artha- pratisamvid, their individual Attributes ; by the Nirukti- pratisamvid, their indestructibility by the Pratibhanapratisamvid, their eternal order. Again, by the first ; intelligence they understand that have are no absolute all reality ; all individual by the second, dharmas that they subject to the law of constant becoming; by they are no more than mere names that even mere names as such are of the fourth, by the some third, that ; by the value. Again, prehend that all indestructible first intelligence, they com- dharrnas are of one reality which is by the second, that this one reality becomes subject to the law of ; itself differentiating causation; by the third, that by virtue of a superior understanding all Buddhas become the object of admiration and the haven of all sentient beings by the fourth, that in the one body of truth all Buddhas ; preach infinite lights (10) of the Dharma The Dharmameghd. name of Bodhisattvahood. The Dharmamegha, "clouds of dharma," the tenth and final Bodhisattvas have accumulated all stage now of practised all is the virtues of purity, the constituents of Bodhi, are fortified with great power and intelligence, universally practise the principle of great love and sympathy, have deeply penetrated into the mystery of individual existences, fathomed inmost depths of sentiency, followed step by step the walk of all the Tathagatas. Every thought cherished by the Bodhisattva now dwells in the CHAPTER XII. 327 the Tathagatas' abode of eternal tranquillity, and every deed practised by him is directed towards the all ten balas l four (power), vaigaradyas (conviction), 2 3 and eighteen avenikas (unique characteristics), of the Buddha. By these virtues the Bodhisattva has now acquired the dwelling in and knowledge of all things (sarvajna), is sanctum sanctorum of all dharanis the samadhis, have arrived at summit of the all activities. 'The ten powers of the Buddha are: (i) The mental power which discriminates between right and wrong, (2) The knowledge of the retribution of karma, (3) The knowledge of all the different stages of creation, (4) The knowledge of all the different forms of deliverance, (5) The knowledge of all the different dispositions of sentient beings, (6) The knowledge of the final destination of all deeds, (7) The knowledge of all the different practices of meditation, deliverance, and tranquilisation, (8) The knowledge of former existences, (9) The unlimited power of complete subjection of 2 The divination, (10) The knowledge of the evil desires (a$ravd) four convictions (vaif&radyas) of the Buddha are: (i) That he has attained the highest enlightenment, (2) That he has destroyed all evil desires, (3) That he has rightly described the (4) obstacles that That he has lie in the way to a truthfully taught the of righteousness, of salvation. life way 3 The eighteen unique characteristics which distinguish the Buddha from the rest of mankind are: (i) He commits no he has disciplined himself in morality, meditation, intelligence, and lovingkindness, and as the result his present life is without faults and free from all errors. Since time out of mind, evil thoughts. (2) He is faultless in his speeches. Whatever he speaks comes from his transcendental, eloquence and leads the audience to a higher conception of life. (3) His mind is faultless. As he has trained himself in samadhi, he is always calm, serene, and contented. heart (samahztacitta), that is, (4) He retains his sameness of his love for sentient beings is CHAPTER 328 The Bodhisattva of love fount and virtue in and of his at this stage is a personification sympathy, which freely issue from the inner will. wisdom, manifold XII. figures; in He gathers the clouds of which he manifests himself he produces the lightnings of Vaicaradyas and shaking the Buddhi, Vidyas, and whole world with the thunder of Dharma he crushes ; all the evil ones ; and pouring forth the showers of Good Law he quenches universal the burning flames of ignorance and not discriminative. (5) His mind is free from thoughts of particularity (nanatvasamjna), that is, it is abiding in truth transcendental, his thoughts are not distracted by objects of the senses. (6) Resignation (upeksa). The Buddha knows everything, yet he is calmly resigned. (7) His aspiration unfathomable, that is, his desire to save all beings from the sufferings of ignorance knows no bounds. (8) His energy is is which he applies with utmost vigor to the salof benighted souls. (9) His mentation (smrti) is inexhaustible, that is, he is ever conscious of all the good docinexhaustible, vation taught by all the Buddhas of the past, present, and future. (10) His intelligence (prajna) is inexhaustible, that is, being in possession of all-intelligence which knows no limits, trines he preaches for the benefits of all beings, (u) His deliverance (vimuktt) is permanent, that is, he has eternally distanced all evil passions and sinful attachments. (12) His knowledge of deliverance insight into (vimuktijnand) is perfect, that is, his intellectual all states of deliverance is without a flaw. (13) He possesses a wisdom which directs all his bodily movements towards the benefit and enlightenment of sentient beings. (14) He possesses a wisdom which directs all his speeches toward the edification and conversion of his fellow-creatures. (15) He possesses a wisdom which reflects in his clear mind all the turbulent states of ignorant souls, from which he removes the dark veil of nescience and folly. (16) He knows all the past. (17) He knows all the future. (18) He knows all the present. CHAPTER and passion consumed. in which 3 29 XII. sentient creatures are being all * # * The above Bodhisattvahood held out and in us allows the to see Dagabhumi what by differs it respect 4 of ideal life is own eyes the Mahayanists before their what from that of the and Pratyekabuddhas as well as from that (Jravakas of other religious tented of presentation make to followers. us Mahayanism mere transmitters is not con- or "hearers" of the teachings of the Buddha, it wants to inspire with all the religious and ethical motives that stirred the noblest heart of Qakyamuni to It and, aspirations, ties of holding it our inmost depths. the intrinsic worth of the fully recognises soul; its up its high ideals > and human noble endeavors to develop all the possibiliwhich by our strenuous efforts soul-life, and all-defying courage will one day be realised even on this earth of impermanence. We as individual existences are nothing but shadows which will vanish as soon as the conditions disappear that possible; we as mortal beings are make them no more than the 1 For an elaborate exposition of the Dacabhumi, see the Avatamsaka (sixty volume edition, fas. 24-2?), the urangama, Vasubandhu's Commentary on Asanga's Comprehensive Treat- ise (fas. on Mahayanism etc., and 9), (fas. for a 10 n), special the Vijnanamatra ^astra treatment of the subject consult the sutra bearing the name, which by the way exists a Sanskrit version and whose brief sketch is given by in Rajendra Mitra in his Nepalese Buddhist Literature, p. 81 et seq. CHAPTER 33O XII. thousands of dusty particles that are haphazardly and powerlessly scattered about before the cyclone of karma; but when we are united in the love and intelligence of the Dharmakaya which we have our in Bodhisattvas, and we can immovably being, stand against the tempest of birth and death, against the overwhelming blast of ignorance. Then even an we are apparently insignificant act of lovingkindness will lead finally to the eternal abode of bliss, not the actor alone, but the whole Because a stream community to which he belongs. of love spontaneously flows from the lake of Intelligence-heart (Bodhicitta) which is fed by the inexhaustible spring of the Dharmakaya, while ignorance leads only to egoism, disturbance, and universal misery. hatred, avarice, CHAPTER XIII. NIRVANA. according to Mahayana Buddhism, is not understood in its nihilistic sense. Even with , the (Jravakas or Hinayanists, Nirvana in this sense much so is not the object of their religious as the recoglifg of the Fourfold Noble Truth, or the practise of the Eightfold Path, or emancipation from the yoke v nition can see, to non-Buddhist critics that the conception of Nirvana has been selected among others as one of the most of fundamental the teachings same time human mostly due, as is It egoism. to consist and passions of far as Buddha, 1 declaring it at in the annihilation of all aspirations, noble as well as worthless. In Nirvana fact, be said that the entering into Nirvana mount to and of all the eternal nature Buddhism the dead, but that life, of it tanta- annihilation of the material existence for they say that for is the passions. Catholic Buddhists, however, do not understand Nirvana nor means "extinction" or of the five skandhas, and therefore "dissolution" may literally how things, to gain in the sense of emptiness, is not a religion of death it teaches an insight how to attain into the real and how to regulate our conduct CHAPTER 332 accordance in with Buddhism, when its it the XIII. highest truth. understood rightly Therefore, in the spirit of something quite different from what is commonly supposed to be by the general public. I will endeavor in the following pages to point out is founder, Nirvana that human sense of a total annihilation of the in by no means the primary and sole object of Buddhists, and then proceed to elucidate in what signification it is understood in the Mahayana Budactivities, is dhism and see what relative position Nirvana in its Mahayanistic sense occupies in the body of Buddhism. Nirvana not Nihilistic order In the First Object. to see the true signification of Nirvana, necessary first to observe in what direction himself ploughed the waves in his religious cruise and upon what shore he finally debarked. This it is Buddha will show us whether which dhism, to tees directed. If sole is did Nirvana as nihilistic every spiritual effort of its devo- the attainment of negativistic Nirvana were the aim of Buddhism, we should naturally expect Buddha's that not primary and sole object of Bud- the is nothingness or farewell address to be chiefly dealing with subject. not teach In his his sermon, however, Buddha disciples to concentrate all their last moral efforts on the attainment of Nirvanic quietude disregarding all the forms of activity that exhibit themselves to the in life. Far from it. Mahanibbdna sutta He told them, according (the Book of the Great CHAPTER inherent in E. B. S. decease, all Vol. is recorded translation, !" 333 u4) p. that "Decay ! last words of Buddha Agvaghosa's Buddhacarita (Chinese Chap. xxvi). They were in : "Even if I lived a kalpa longer, Separation would be an inevitable end. A body composed of various aggregates, Its nature is not to abide forever. "Having finished benefiting oneself and others, Why live I longer to no purpose ? Of gods and men that should be saved, Each and all had been delivered. "O ye, my disciples ! Without interruption transmit the Good Dharma! Know ye that things are destined to decay Never again abandon yourselves to grief! ! "But pursue the And Way with Home of arrive at the diligence, No-separation! have lit the Lamp of Intelligence, That shining dispels the darkness of the world. I "Know ye that the world endureth not! As ye should feel happy [when ye see] The parents suffering a mortal disease Are released by a treatment from pain; "So with me, I now give up the vessel of misery, Transcend the current of birth and death, ' 1 is Work out your salThis exhortation of the strenuous harmony with the quite in life XL component things vation with diligence as XIII Literally, "to advance against." CHAPTER 334 And am eternally released This too must be deemed XIII. from pain and suffering. all blest. "Ye should well guard yourselves! Never give yourselves up to indulgence! All that exists finally comes to an end! now I In this enter into Nirvana." we find 1 Buddha's characteristic admonition disciples not to waste time but to work out their salvation with diligence and rigor, but we fail to find the gospel of annihilation, the supposedly fun- to his damental teaching of Buddhism. Did then Buddha start in his religious discipline to attain the absolute annihilation of and human aspirations after a long meditation reach the conclusion that contradicted his premises ? Far from it. His first and ambition was nothing else than the emancipation last of all all from ignorance, misery, and suffering enlightenment, knowledge, and truth. When beings through Mara the evil one was exhausting all upon the destruction of the Buddha his evil powers in the beginning of his career, the good gods in the heavens exclaimed 2 to the evil one : "Take not on thyself, O Mara, this vain fatigue, throw aside thy malevolence and retire to thy home. This sage cannot be shaken by thee any more than the mighty mountain Meru by the wind. 1 Cf. Beal's translation in 306 307, vs- 20952101. Beal Chinese original. 2 The Buddhacarita, ILIX. p. 145. the Vol XIX. pp. misunderstands the S. B. E. utterly Cowell's translation in the S. B. E. Vol. CHAPTER "Even fire earth ity, its might lose XIII. 335 hot nature, water its steadiness, but never will its fluid- he abandon who has acquired his merit by a long course of actions through unnumbered eons. "Such is the purpose of his, that heroic effort, that his resolution, glorious strength, that compassion for all beings, un- he attains the highest wisdom [or suchness, tattvd\> will never rise from his seat, just as the sun does til he not without dispelling the darkness. "Pitying the world lying distressed amidst diseases rise and passions, hindered, he, the great physician, who undergoes all ought not to be sake of his labors for the the remedy-knowledge. "He, who, when he beholds the world drowned in the great flood of existence and unable to reach the further shore, strives to bring would any right-minded soul "The them offer safely across, him wrong? whose roots go deep in and whose fibres are whose flowers firmness, patience, are moral actions and whose branches are memory tree of knowledge, and which gives out the Dharma as its surely when it is growing it should not be cut and thought, fruit, down." These words of the good gods in the heavens truth- echo the motive that stirred (Jakyamuni to take his up gigantic task of universal salvation, and we are fully unable here nihilistic as before to perceive a particle of the speculation which is supposed to characterise The Buddha from the very first of his relicourse searched after the light that will illumigious Nirvana. CHAPTER 336 nate XIII. whole universe and dispel the darkness of the nescience. What his first he is enlightenment, then, did the Buddha, pursuing object, finally gain ? What truth said to have discovered under the was it that Bodhi tree penance and deep meditation? As is universally recognised, it was no more than the Fourfold Noble Truth and the Twelve Chains of Depen- after six years' dence, which are acknowledged by the Mahayanists as well as by the Hinayanists as the essentially original What then was his subjective state when he discovered these truths ? How did he teachings of the Buddha. inmost being after feel in his this intellectual triumph over egoistic thoughts and passions ? According to the Southern tradition, the famous Hymn of Victory is said be to his utterance on this occasion. It reads (The Dharmapada, 153): "Many a life to Long quest, no transmigrate, rest, hath been my fate, Tent-designer inquisitive for; Painful birth from state to state. "Tent-designer, I know Never again to build thee now; art thou; Quite out are all thy joyful fires, Rafter broken and roof-tree gone; Into the vast my heart goes on, Gains Eternity In this 1 From Hymn A. J. dead desires." ! of Victory, the "tent-designer" means Edmunds's translation of Dhammapada. CHAPTER XIII. 337 . supposed to be a subtle existence behind our mental experiences. As was pointed out else- the ego that is where the negative phase of Buddhism consists in the eradication of this ego-substratum or the "designer" of eternal transmigration. The Buddha now finds out is a fantasmagoria and has no final and with this insight his ego-centric desires that this ego-soul existence ; that troubled him so long are the breaking up of their limitations the in and Eternal Vast, in which suggests we No shadow have our being. that eternally dead of anything he ; all is live ; he feels absorbed i/ is and move perceptible here an absolute nothingness supposed to be the attribute of Nirvana. Before Mahayana tradition further, proceeding tradition varies in us let see what the says concerning this point. The this case as in many others. According to Beal's Romantic History of Buddha, which is a translation of a Chinese version of the Buddhacarita (Fo pen king ching), to have exclaimed this ! Buddha is reported : "Through ages past have I acquired continual merit, That which my heart desired have I now attained, How quickly have 1 arrived at the ever-constant condition, the very shore of Nirvana. And landed on The sorrows and opposition of the world, The Lord of the Kamalokas, Mara Pisuna, These are unable now to affect, they are wholly destroyed; By the power of religious merit and of wisdom are they cast away. 1 P. 225. would have Beal's is not always reliable, and I Chinese original were at all accessible. translation my own if the 22 [/ CHAPTER 33^ Let a man but persevere with And seek Supreme Wisdom, it XIII. unflinching resolution, will not be hard to acquire once obtained, then farewell to all sorrows, sin and guilt are forever done away." it; When All * Viewing the significance of Buddhism evident that is it in this light, Buddha did not emphasise so much the doctrine of Nirvana in the sense of a total abnegation of human aspirations as the abandonment of egoism and the practical regulation of our daily life in accord- ance with noble this view. Nirvana in which all the passions and base are supposed to have been "blown out like a lamp" was not the most coveted object of Buddhist life. On the contrary, Buddhism advises all its followers spiritual to energy exercise to most strenuously all their freedom from the attain perfect bondage of ignorance and egoism because that is the only way in which we can conquer the vanity of worldliness and enjoy the bliss of eternal life. The ; following verse from the Visuddhi Magga (XXI) prac- The gathas supposed to be the first utterance of the Buddha alter his enlightenment, according to Rockhill's Life of the Buddha (p. 33) compiled from Tibetan sources, give 1 an inkling of nihilism, though I am inclined to think that the original Tibetan will allow a different interpretation when examined by some one who is better acquainted with the spirit of Buddhism than Rockhill. Rockhill betrays in not a few cases his insufficient knowledge of the subject he His translation of the gathas is as follows: "All the pleasures of the worldly joys, AH which are known among the gods, Compared with Are not as its the joy of ending existence, sixteenth part. treats. CHAPTER XIII. 339 sums up the teaching of Buddhism as negative and individual phase is concerned far as tically its "Behold how empty is the world, Mogharaja! In thoughtfulness Let one remove belief in self, And pass beyond the realm of death. The king of death will never find The man who thus the world beholds." Nirvana It is not problem of how ; we the 2 is Positive. my intention here to investigate the side of this question : historical are not concerned with the followers of Buddha gradually developed the positive aspect of Nirvana in connection with the practical application of his moral and religious he whose burden is heavy, has cast it down; When once he has cast off his burden, He will seek to be burthened no more. is "Sorry And happy he who "When When When all all all existences are put away, notions are at an end, things are perfectly known, Then no more will craving come back." II., 2, we have a stanza corresponding to the gatha here cited, but the Udana does not say "the joy of ending existence," but "the destruction of desire." In the Udana, first According to the Lalita Vistara, the Buddha's utterance of is (Rajendra Mitra's Edition p. 448): "Cinna vartmopac.anta rajah guska ac,rava na punah c,ravanti. Chinne vartmani varttate duhkhasyaisonta ucyate." victory 2 Warren's Buddhism in Translations, p. 376. CHAPTER 34O XIII. teachings nor are we engaged in tracing the process of evolution through which Buddha's noble resolution ; to save was all sentient beings brought devotees. What conception from ignorance and misery most out conspicuously by his later wish to state here about the positive I Nirvana and of its The Mahayana Buddhism was a complete annihilation is is desires Yoga in it being, for they thought evil is misery, and the only to destroy the root of existence, than the total cessation of human is less nothing and of and evil, to escape misery which teach- by other Hindu thinkers who saw that existence way first religious : contradicted the doctrine of Nirvana ing in India that as conceived the this is development activities in Nirvanic unconsciousness The deep meditation the separation of Purusa from taught self-forget fulness in ; Samkhya, the absolute Prakrti, which means undisturbed self-contemplation the Vedanta, absorption in the Brahma, which is the ; total of suppression all particulars ; and thus them considered emancipation from human and aspirations a heavenly bliss, that is, all of desires Nirvana. Metaphysically speaking, they might have been correct each in its own way, but, ethically considered, their views had little significance in our practical showed a sad deficiency in dealing and life with problems of morality. The Buddha was keenly aware their doctrines. does not consist but in He taught, in the of this therefore, flaw in that Nirvana complete stoppage of existence, the practise of the Eightfold Path. This moral CHAPTER leads practise the as XIII. 341 the unalloyed joy of Nirvana, not to human aspirations, but as human life. The word of tranquillisation the fulfilment or unfolding of Nirvana prior was in the sense of annihilation to but Buddha, significance by men to it in existence was he who gave a new it and made it worthy of attainment of moral character. All the doctrinal aspects of Nirvana are later additions or rather development made by Buddhist arguments are solidly who Nirvana more be, the developed are my In the conviction positive consistent is that significance with the who emphasised Udana we read (IV., 9): founder than those it. their based on some canonical passages. Whatever the case may those whom scholars, according to spirit of of the another aspect of "He whom life torments not, sorrows not at the approach of death, If such a one is resolute and has seen Nirvana, In the midst of grief, he is griefless. The tranquil-minded Bhikkhu, who has uprooted the Who thirst for existence, By him the succession of He is born no more." births is ended, ! According to the Mahayanistic conception Nirvana not the annihilation of the world and the putting is an end to life; but it is to live in the whirlpool of and death and yet to be above it. It is affirmation and fulfilment, and this is done not blindly and egoistically, for Nirvana is enlightenment. Let birth us see 1 how this is. General D. M. Strong "s translation, p. 64. CHAPTER 342 XIII. The Mahdydnistic Conception of Nirvana. While the conception of Nirvana seems to have remained indefinite and confused as far as Hinayanism Mahayana Buddhists have attached the goes, shades definite meaning them some special, give each of When sical material and sin a case distinctive character. When we the Dharmakaya. existence, in contrast to birth eternal several tried to most comprehensive metaphybecomes synonymous with Suchness entrance into Nirvana, 's and in its with or Buddha of it sense, (tattva} of used is it to Nirvana of it (klega), i. e., it When death. speak means the end it is used and death (samsdra) or to passion signifies in the former case an or a state of immortality, and in the latter life state of consciousness that follows from the presence of the Dharmakaya in individual existences. Nirvana has thus become a very of recognition the comprehensive term, and this fact adds much to the confusion and misunderstanding with which it has been treated ever since Buddhism became known to the is Occident. not The altogether so-called "primitive unfamiliar with all Buddhism" these meanings Nirvana, though in some cases they might have been but faintly foreshadowed. Most of European given to and scholars have ignored this fact and wanted to see in Nirvana but one definite, stereotyped missionaries sense which will loosen or untie connected with its use, One all the difficult knots scholar would select a certain passage in a certain sutra, where the meaning CHAPTER is tolerably distinct, endeavor to solve all XIII. 343 and taking this as the key the rest while another scholar ; would do the same thing with another passage from the scriptures and refute other fellow-workers. The majority of them, however, have found for missionary purposes to be advantageous to hold one meaning prominently above possibly all may be the others that meaning of Nirvana the been made specially conspicuous that has considered This one meaning is its negati- vistic interpretation. to According the version Vol. X.), the Vijnanamatra four forms of Nirvana. sible its embraces it spiritual immortal ; of the Dhar- synonym its all essence and existences. manifests itself in the world of defilement it relativity, While distinguish : is constitutes Though are eternally immaculate in the truth and reality of It makaya. and They Absolute Nirvana, as a (i) gastra (Chinese Mahayana Buddhists its essence forever remains undefiled. in itself virtues, it innumerable incomprehenis absolutely perfect tranquillity may simple and be likened unto which every conceivable motion is possible, but which remains in itself the same. It is universally space in beings whether animate or inanimate and makes their existence real. In one respect it can present in all 1 be identified with them, that is, it can be pantheistibut in the other respect it is transcencally viewed ; 1 The but this text is does not expressly say "animate or inanimate", own interpretation according to the of Mahayanism. the author's general spirit CHAPTER 344 dental, for every being as XIII. is it is not Nirvana. This however, beyond the ken of spiritual significance ordinary human understanding and can be grasped is, only by the highest intelligence of Buddha. (2) Upadhigesa Nirvana, or Nirvana that has some This residue. a state of enlightenment is which can be attained by Buddhists in their lifetime. The Dharmakaya which was dormant in them is now awakened and from the "affective obstacles," 1 but they are yet under the bondage of birth and death; and thus they are not yet absolutely free from the misery of freed life them (3) : something still remains in them that makes suffer pain. Anupadhigesa Nirvana, or Nirvana that has no residue. This is attained is when the Tathagata-essence released from the pain of birth Dharmakaya) and death as well as from the curse of passion and sin. This form of Nirvana seems to be what is gene(the understood by Occidental missionary-scholars as the Nirvana of Buddhists. While in lifetime, they have rally been emancipated from the egoistic conception of the soul, they have practised the Eightfold Path, and they There are two obstacles to final emancipation: (1) affecand (2) intellectual. The former is our unenlightened affective or emotional or subjective life and the latter our intel1 tive, lectual prejudice. Buddhists should not only be pure in heart but be perfect in intelligence. Pious men are of course saved from transmigration, but to attain perfect Buddhahood they must have a clear, penetrating intellectual insight into the significance of life and existence and the destiny of the universe. This emphasising of the rational element in religion is one of the most characteristic points of Buddhism. CHAPTER have their possible the all destroyed XIII. roots 345 of karma that makes metempsychosis in the world of birth and death (samsdra), though as the inevitable sequence of their previous karma they have yet to suffer all the inherent evils in the material existence. But at they have had even this mortal coil dissolved away, and have returned to the original Absolute from which last had come out and gone cycle of births and deaths. This state of virtue of ignorance they by through a supramundane bliss in the Anupadigesa Nirvana, that realm of the Absolute is, is Nirvana that has no residue. (4) The Nirvana that has no abode. In this, the Buddha-essence has not only been freed from the curse of passion and sin (kle$a}, but from the intellectual prejudice, which most tenaciously The Buddha-essence here in its or the clings to the mind. Dharmakaya revealed perfect purity. All-embracing love and all- He who has knowing intelligence illuminate the path. attained to this state of subjective enlightenment is no abode, no dwelling place, that is to no more subject to the transmigration of said to have say, he is is and death (samsdra), nor does he cling to Nirvana as the abode of complete rest in short, he is birth ; above Samsara and Nirvana. His sole object in life is to benefit all sentient beings to the end of time but ; he proposes to do not by his human conscious elaboration and striving Simply actuated by his allembracing love which is of the Dharmakaya, he wishes this to deliver all his fellow-creatures from misery, he does CHAPTER 346 not seek his life. He own emancipation from the turmoil of aware of the transitoriness of worldly but on this account he desires not to shun is interests, XIII. fully With all-knowing intelligence he gains a spiritual insight into the ultimate nature of things and the final course of existence. He is one of those reli- them. gious men his "that weep, as though they rejoice as though they rejoiced not they possessed not it ; he ; world passes away." Nay, one sense more than this ; positive activity, because his heart ted to the leading of and supreme of spiritual life, he is his life is full of and soul are devo- beings to final emancipation all When bliss. ; that use this world, as not abusing ; for the fashion of this is in wept not that that buy, as though man a be said to attains to this stage in the Nirvana that has no abode. A commentator on the Vijndnamdtra fdstra adds that of these four forms of Nirvana the first sessed by every sentient being, whether it is is pos- actual- human perfection or lying dormant in posse and miserably obscured by ignorance that the second ised in its ; and third are attained by tyekabuddhas, possession of while all it the four forms of Nirvana. Nirvana as It is manifest is the (Jravakas and Praa Buddha alone that is in all from the the Dharmakdya, above statement that Mahayanism Nirvana has acquired in several shades of meaning psychological and ontological. This apparent confusion, however, is due to the purely idealistic CHAPTER 347 XIII. Mahayanism, which ignores the distinction usually made between being and thought, object and subject, the perceived and the perceiving. Nirvana tendency not is an of a subjective state of enlightenment but only power through whose operation this becomes attainable. It does not simply objective state beatific mean a total absorption in the Absolute or of emanci- pation from earthly desires in lifetime as exemplified the in life Nirvana of the not only Arhat. Mahayanists but also this, its identity with the Dharmakaya, or Suchness, and recognise in presence spiritual all perceive in its universal sentient beings. When that : v Nagarjuna says in his Mddhyamika fdstra "That is called Nirvana which is not wanting, not acquired, mittent, is not is is not intermittent, to subject is not non-inter- destruction, and created;" he evidently speaks of Nirvana as a of Dharmakaya, that is, that Nirvana which not synonym in its first sense as described. Chandra Kirti, therefore, rightly is above comments 2 sarva-kalpand-ksaya-riipam, i. e., that transcends all the forms of determination, is This is one of the most important philosophical texts of Mahayanism. Its original Sanskrit with the commentary of Chandra Kirti has been edited by Satis Chandra Acharya and published by the Buddhist Text Society of India. The 1 original lines run as follows (p. 193) : "Aprahinam, asampraptam, anucchinnam, acagvatam, Aniruddham, anutpannam, evam nirvanam ucyate." 2 Literally, that characterisation. which is characterised by the absence of all CHAPTER 348 Nirvana an is absolute, it XIII. above the is relativity of existence (bkdva) and non-existence (abhdva). Nirvana attributes sometimes spoken of as possessing four is (i) ; from eternal (4) blissful pure highest reality It Dharmakaya. is (sukka), Judging Nirvana as its (fUft). qualities thus ascribed to these essential features, Nirvana the (2) (nityd], (dtman), and self-acting (3) 1 here again identified with of Buddhism, that is, with the is eternal because above it is immaterial blissful because it is self-acting because it knows no compulsion; is pure because 1 it is all sufferings ; ; it it is it is not defiled by passion and error. a from the Madhyamika: "Bhaved abbavo bhavac ca nirvanam ubhayam katham: Asamskrtam ca nirvanam bhavabhavai ca samskrtam." " Or, "Tasmanna bhavo nabhavo nirvanamiti yujyate Cf. the following * In the Visuddhi-Magga XXI. (Warren's translation, p. 376 et seq.), we read that there are three starting points of deliverance arising from the consideration of the three predom- inant qualities i. The consideof the constituents of being and ends leads the thoughts to the 2. The insight into their miserableness agitates : ration of their beginnings unconditioned the ; mind and leads the thoughts consideration ego leads the to the desireless ; 3. The constituents of being as not having an thoughts to the empty. And these three, we of the are told, constitute the three aspects of Nirvana as uncondiwe have an instance in tioned, desireless, and empty. Here the so-called Southern "primitive" Nirvana in the Buddhism of viewing Mahayanistic light which I have here explained at length. En passant, let us remark that as Buddha did not leave any document himself embodying his whole system, there sprang up soon after his departure several schools explaining CHAPTER Nirvana No of when is it the in its Fourth Sense. further elucidation cation for Nirvana, is needed for the first signifi- we have treated it already explaining the nature of the Dharmakaya. Nor necessary for us to dwell upon the second and third phases of it. scholars and Orientalists, have biased, points now 349 XIII. to missionary- almost from the is The Occidental however one-sided and often exhaustively investigated these Pali sources. What remains for us analyse the Mahayanistic Nirvana which was stated above as its conception of fourth signifi- cation. Nirvana, briefly speaking, is a realisation in this life of the all-embracing love and all-knowing intelligence of Dharmakaya. It is the unfolding of the reason of existence, more or which in the less eclipsed by ordinary human life remains the shadow of ignorance and in the mere observance egoism. of the moral precepts laid down by Buddha, nor in the blind following of the Eightfold Path, nor in It does not consist retirement from the world and absorption in abstract The Mahayanistic Nirvana is full of energy issues from the which activity all-embracittg love of the Dharmakaya. There is no passivity in it, nor meditation and a keeping aloof from the hurly-burly of worldliness. the Master's view in divers ways, each claiming the legitimate interpretation; that in view of this fact it is illogical to conclude that Southern Buddhism tation par excellence of original or the Northern is is the authoritative represen- Buddhism, while the Eastern a mere degeneration. CHAPTER 35O He who in is Nirvana does not seek a rest this the annihilation of XIII. human aspirations, does not flinch On in the face of endless transmigration. he in the contrary, himself into the ever-rushing current of plunges Samsara and sacrifices himself to save his fellow-crea- tures from being eternally drowned in it. Mahayana Nirvana is realised only Though in the mire of passions and errors, it is never conthus the taminated that is by the abiding egoism and filth of ignorance. Therefore, he in Nirvana, even darkness of in the all-seeing insight that penetrates He is aware He knows that this nature of being. things. moment in in the whirlpool of does not lose his sin, deep into the ultimate of the transitoriness of life a mere passing is the eternal manifestation of the Dharmakaya, whose work can be and endless realised only in boundless space As he fully awake to this knowledge, he never gets engrossed in the world of sin. He lives in the world like unto the lotus-flower, the emblem of immaculacy, which grows out of the mire and time. yet shares not bird flying behind its is defilement. in the air that He is also like unto a does not leave any trace He may again be likened unto the clouds that spontaneously gather around the mountain peak, and, soaring high as the wind blows, vanish away to it. the region living in, where nobody knows. In short, he is and yet beyond, the realm of Samsara and Nirvana. We read in the "Vimalakirti Vimalakirti Sutra (chap. VIII.) asks Manjucri: 'How is it that : you CHAPTER declare XIII. 351 [human] passions and errors are the seeds all of Buddhahood?' k "Manjugri replies : O son of good family ! Those who cling to the and dwell in a state of eternal annihilation do not view of non-activity [asamskrita\ them supremely perfect knowledge [anuttarasamyak-sambodhi\ Only the Bodhisattvas. who dwell awaken in midst of passions and errors, and who, passing in the through the [ten] mate nature of stages, rightly contemplate the ulti- things, are able to awaken and attain intelligence [prajnd]. *' do not grow 'Just as the lotus-flowers but land, in the the dark-colored, waterly mire, in O dry son even so [with intelligence (prajnd or bodhi)\ In non-activity and eternal annihilation which of good family, it is by the Qravakas and the Pratyekabuddhas, no opportunity for the seeds and sprouts of are cherished there is Buddhahood grow. Intelligence can grow only in the mire and dirt of passion and sin. It is by virtue of to passion and sin that the seeds and sprouts of Buddha- hood are able " in to grow. 'O son of good family the but in the air, there even luxuriously, even so [with non-activity of the Just as ! filthy, no seeds can grow muddy soil, and O son of good family, it is Bodhi]. It does not grow out of eternal annihilation. It is only out the and mountainous masses thoughts that Intelligence of egoistic, selfish awakened and grows is to the incomprehensible wisdom of Buddha-seeds. " son of good family Just as we cannot obV O ! CHAPTER 352 tain XIII. we pearls unless priceless dive into the depths of the four great oceans, O son of good family, it is even so '[with Intelligence] If we do not dive deep mighty ocean of passion and sin, how could gem of Buddha-essence ? into the we get hold of the precious Let therefore be understood that the primordial seeds of Intelligence draw their vitality from the midst of passion" and sin.' In a Pauline epistle we read, it ' "From life the foulness of the And Emerson grows." soil, sings the beauty of new : "Let me go where'er I will, hear a sky-born music still. 'Tis not in the high stars alone, Nor in the cup of budding flowers, Nor in the redbreast's mellow tone, I Nor But bow that smiles mud and scum of in the in the in showers, things. There always, always, something sings Do we " not see here a most explicit statement of the Mahayanistic sentiment? Nirvana and Samsdra are One. The most remarkable conception of Nirvana "Yas klegas What birth This in is so is expressed in this formula bodhi, yas samsaras tat nirvanam." sin or passion, that and death the feature in the Mahayanistic is : is Intelligence, (or transmigration), that is what is Nirvana. a rather bold and revolutionising proposition dogmatic history of Buddhism. But it is no more than the natural development of the spirit that was breathed by ks founder. CHAPTER Vigesacinta-brahma-pariprccha Sutra* the In 353 XIII. is it said that (chap. II): "Samsara is Nirvana, because there when viewed is, from the ultimate nature of the Dharmakaya, nothing out going nor of, coming into, existence, being only apparent]: Nirvana coveted and adhered to.^ In another place (pp. much terms plainer in truth free : cit.) is samsara, the idea it is expressed in is "The essence of from attachment, [samsara when attributes, all things is and desires ; they are pure, and, as they are pure, we that what is the essence of birth and death therefore, know that is the essence of Nirvana, and that what of Nirvana that essence is is the the essence of birth and (samsara). In other words, Nirvana is not to be sought outside of this world, which, though tran- death sient, Because there in is is reality more than Nirvana itself. it is contrary to our reason to imagine that Nirvana and there is birth and death (samsara,) and that the one lies we have we can annihilated and death. subjectivity, If we this outside the pale of the other, Nirvana only after escaped the world of birth are not hampered by our confused and, therefore, that Nirvana no our attain or worldly life is an activity of itself." Nagarjuna repeats the same sentiment amika fdstra, when he says: in his Mddhy- There are three Chinese translations of this Mahayana by Dharmaraksa, Kumarajiva, and Bodhiruci, between and 517 A. D. 265 1 text, 23 CHAPTER 354 "Samsara Nirvana XIII. no way to be distinguished from Nirvana: no way to be distinguished from Samsara." in is is in l Or, "The sphere of Nirvana is the sphere of Samsara: Not the slightest distinction exists between them." Asanga goes that the all a and boldly declares further step * of which Nirvana or Buddha-dharmas, Dharmakaya forms the foundation, are characterised with He the and passions, errors, Mahaydna-Sangraha fdstra says in Tripitaka, Japanese edition of "(i) an 1 88 1, (the Chinese wang VIII., p. 84) Buddha-dharmas are characterised All eternality, for the "(2) sins of vulgar minds. Dharmakaya is : with eternal. Buddha-dharmas are characterised with All extinguishing power, for they extinguish all the obstacles for final emancipation. "(3) Buddha-dharmas are characterised with All regeneration, for the Nirmanakaya [Body of Transfor- mation] constantly regenerates. "(4) Buddha-dharmas are characterised with the All power of attainment, for by the attainment they subjugate innumerable by ignorant "(5) All desire 1 [of truth] passions as cherished beings. Buddha-dharmas are characterised with the gain, ill humor, folly, and all Samsarasya ca nirvanat kincid Na 2 to evil asti vigesanam: nirvanasya samsarat kincid asti vigesanam. Nirvanasya ca ya kotih kotih samsarasya ca, Vidyadanantaram kincit susuksnam vidyate. the other CHAPTER passions of vulgar minds, for XIII. 355 it is through the Buddha's love that those depraved souls are saved. Buddha-dharmas are characterised with non- "(6) All attachment and made is Suchness which virtues cannot be defiled powers Buddha-dharmas are above attachment and All '(7) by these perfect for evil by any k non-defilement, defilement, for though all in the world, worldliness Buddhas reveal themselves cannot defile them." l Buddha-dharma means any thing, or any virtue, or any faculty, that belongs to Buddhahood. Kon -attach- ment is a Buddha-dharma, love is a Buddha-dharma, Buddha dharma, and a Buddha-dharma which is an wisdom is a is in fact anything of the attribute One, not to mention the Dharmakaya or Nirvana which constitutes the very essence of BuddhaPerfect hood. Therefore, the conclusion which from those is quoted seven this transformation errors and sins propositions Not only : is is to be drawn of Asanga as above this world of constant as a whole Nirvana, but and evils are also the various its apparent phases of the manifestation of Nirvana. The above being is it the Mahay anistic view evident that Nirvana is of Nirvana, not something transcen- dental or that which stands above this world of birth 1 the is Concerning the similarity in meaning of this statement to one just preceding, a commentator says that the sixth the statical view of Suchness (or Dharmakaya) and the seventh its reality of dynamical view. One explains what the highest is and the other what it does or works. Buddhism CHAPTER 356 XIII. and death, joy and sorrow, love and hate, peace and struggle. Nirvana is not to be sought in the heavens departure from this earthly life nor in the annihilation of human passions and aspirations. On the contrary, it must be sought in the midst of nor a after worldliness, is as life with all its of pain and thrills no more than Nirvana itself. Extinguish pleasure your life and seek Nirvana in anchoretism, and your Nirvana is forever lost. Consign your aspirations, hopes, pleasures, and woes, and everything that makes up a life to the eternal silence of the grave, and you bury Nirvana never to be recovered. In asceticism, or in meditation, or in ritualism, or even in meta- more impetuously you pursue Nirvana, the away it flies from you. It was the most physics, the further mistake serious committed ever by any thinkers to imagine that Nirvana which satisfaction by is religious the complete our religious feeling could be gained of human desires, ambitions, hopes, and pleasures. Have your own Bodhi (intelli- laying aside pains, all gence) thoroughly enlightened through love and knowl- and everything that was thought edge, filthy turns out to be of divine purity. human heart, egoism, now formerly the It the and same fount of ignorance and the abode of eternal beatitude shining in its intrinsic sinful is Nirvana magnificence. Suppose a torch light is taken into a dark cell, which people had hitherto imagined to be the abode of hideous, uncanny goblins, and which on that account they wanted to have completely destroyed to the CHAPTER The ground. bright XIII. 357 now ushered light in disperses therein perfectly illumined. Everything in sumes is its proper aspect. be and uncanny precious And horrible are stones can be used in as- some way for The dark great benefit of their fellow-creatures. cell is human heart before the enlightenment of Nirvana, the torch light warms and now nothing but huge the love it to their surprise people and they further learn that every stones, one of those the once which they formerly considered find that those figures to at darkness, and every nook and corner the is love and intelligence. When intelligence brightens, the heart finds every passion and sinful desire that was the cause of unbearable anguish now turned into a divine aspiration. The heart itself, however, remains the same just as much as the cell, whose identity was never affected ^either nicely by darkness the illustrates identity of Nirvana and Kleca, that Therefore, it or is, is by brightness. This parable Mahayanistic doctrine of the and Samsara, and of the Bodhi of intelligence and passion. said: "All sins transformed into the constituents of enlightenment! The vicissitudes of Samsara transformed into the beatitude of Nirvana! All come from these the of the exercise great religious discipline (upaya)\ our understanding, indeed, Buddhas." Beyond is the mystery of all 1 1 The Discourse on Buddha-essence by Vasubandhu. Japanese Tripitaka edition of 1881, stanza is quoted from the Sutra on fas. II., p. 84, The where the the Incomprehensible. CHAPTER 358 XIII. The Middle Course. one sense the Buddha always showed an In conciliatory, synthetic spirit in his teachings. eclectic, He refused any extreme doctrine which elevates one end too high at the expense of the other and culmito listen to When the nates in the collapse of the whole edifice. Buddha dhi left his seat of enlightenment under the Bo- he made tree, it his mission to avoid both ex- He proved through- tremes, asceticism and hedonism. out his life person, disciplined acter, - - to be a calm, dignified, thoughtful, well- and at no time in this latter respect irritable in char- being so different from sage of Nazareth, who in anger cast out all the tradesmen in the temple and overthrew the tables of the the money-changers, and who cursed which he could not find any his hunger. The doctrine of the Middle Path appease (Madhyamdrga), intellectually, of Buddha teachings. whatever it frjuit His well fig tree on but leaves unfit to may mean always characterised the as the life morally and and doctrine as the later followers, development of his however different in their individual views, professed as a rule to pursue steadily the Even Middle Path as paved by the Master. when Nagarjuna proclaimed his celebrated doctrine of Eight No's which seems to superficial critics nothing but an absolute nihilism, he said that the Middle Path could be found only in those eight no's. 1 This is expressed in the fdstra, which runs as follows: first 1 verse of the Madhyamika CHAPTER Mahayanism has method of Buddha ennobled the In cation. by it XIII. certainly to its 359 applied theory its this synthetic of Nirvana and immanent signifideveloping Discourse on Buddha-essence, Vasu- fully bandhu quotes the following passage from the frimala Sutra, which plainly shows the path along which the traveled Mahayanists conclusion existence of the only before they reached their final "Those, who : are see only the transitoriness called nihilists, and those who see eternality of Nirvana are called eternalists. Both views are incorrect." Vasubandhu then proceeds to say: "Therefore, the from both extremes, and on that account it When viewed free is Dharmakaya of the Tathagata called the Great Eternal Perfection. is from Suchness, the logical Nirvana and Samsara cannot in this absolute standpoint of distinction reality between be maintained, and hereby we enter upon the realm of non-duality." And this realm of non-duality is the Middle Path of Nirvana, not in its nihilistic, but in its Mahayanistic, significance. How to Realise Nirvana. How can we attain the Middle Path of Nirvana? How can we realise a life that is neither pessimistic asceticism nor materialistic hedonism ? How can we steer through the whirlpools of Samsara without being "Anirodham anutpadam anucchedam acacvatam Anekartham ananartham anagamam anirgamam." Literally translated these lines read: "No No annihilation, unity, no no production, no destruction, no persistence, no coming in, no going out." plurality, CHAPTER 360 XIII. up and yet braving their turbulent gyraThe answer to this can readily be given, when swallowed tion ? we understand, as repeatedly stated above, that this life is the manifestation of the Dharmakaya, and that the ideal of human possibilities of existence conceive of the Dharmakaya. be to to realise within the is mind and body his all-embracing And all this that he can we have found love and all-seeing intelligence. Destroy then your ignorance at one blow and be done with your egoism, and there springs forth an eternal stream of love and wisdom. Says Vasubandhu "By virtue of Prajna [intelligence or wisdom], our egoistic thoughts are destroyed by : : Karuna virtue of ed. thoughts are cherish- Prajna, the [affective] attachment vulgar minds is abolished; by virtue of of virtue By [love], altruistic inherent in Karuna, the [intellectual] attachment by the (Jravakas and Pratyekabuddhas By of virtue is sense] [with its Prajna, Nirvana [in its as possessed is abolished. transcendental not rejected; by virtue of Karuna, Samsara changes and transmigrations] is not rejected. By virtue of Prajna the truth of by virtue of Karuna, all Buddhism is sentient beings are attained ; matured [for salvation]." The practical life of a Buddhist runs in two opposite, though not antagonistic, directions, one upward and the other downward, and the two are synthesised in the Middle Path of Nirvana. The upward direction points to the intellectual comprehension of the truth, while the downward one to a realisation of all-embra- CHAPTER cing love 36l his fellow-creatures. among mented by the XIII. When other. One of tears sufferings of alone side the his it. it will superstitious, the emotional ! It If it does not turn or foul, or even atrocious in the history of religion how think When assume a hedonistic form. under the beautiful name of and mankind whose everything coming in does not discriminate and it for spirituality. out sentimentalism, deeds thinker, colors that Because sensuality How many too dry and does not flow over the fellow-beings. tint egoistic takes is the emotional, asserted to the extreme, love acquires is contact with is comple- the intellectual side much emphasised at the expense of we have a Pratyekabuddha, a solitary fountain is have been committed God when we religion, or love of makes the blood run cold religious fanatics burned alive their rivals or opponents at the stake, cruelly butchered thousands human brought desolation and and all ruin throughout the land of their enemies, these works of the Devil executed for sheer love of of God lives within a day, Therefore, ! says Devala, the author of the Discourse on the Makdpurusa (Great Man) "The wise do not approve lovingkindness without intelligence, nor do they approve intelligence without loving: kindness ; because one without the other prevents us from reaching the highest path." Knowledge love how attain is the eye, the limb. Directed by the eye, the limb is knows move; furnished with the limb, the eye can what it perceives. Love alone is blind, knowl- to edge alone is lame. It is only when one is supplement- CHAPTER 362 XIII. ed by the other that we have a perfect, complete man. Buddha In as the ideal human being we recognise the perfection of love and intelligence; for it was in him that the Dharmakaya found its perfect realisation in the flesh. But as far as the Bodhisattvas are concerned, and their their endowments are so temperament is the some are more prone while diversified so uneven that in some the elements are more predominant while in emotional side is more pronounced, that intellectual others natural preferably look toward to practicality others intellectuaiism. Thus, as a matter of course, some Bodhisattvas will be more of philosophers than of religious seers. They may tend in some cases to emphasise the intellectual side of religion more than of emotional side and uphold the prajna (intelligence) above that of its importance karuna (love). But the Middle Path of Nirvana lies in the true harmonisation of prajna and karuna, of bodhi and of knowledge and love, of intellect and upaya, feeling. Love Awakens Intelligence But if we have to choose between the two, let us first have all-embracing love, the Buddhists would say ; for to it is love that awakens in us an intense desire the find perpetual intellect will of the it of emancipating the masses from and eternal transmigration. The now endeavor to realise its highest sufferings possibilities When way is ; the Bodhi will exhibit found out that Dharmakaya which its fullest this life is is strength. an expression one and eternal, that CHAPTER individual existences svabhdva) as of isation we subjective ignorance, and, therefore, that which love (atman or selfhood they are due to the particular and real as one in the absolute truth will no far as true are have 363 XIII. unfold are conceived Dharmakaya, the Bodhisattva's him to search caused now when we only its after the highest fullest significance. This love, or faith in the Mahayana, as times called, felt is rather vaguely at the it is first some- awake- ning of the religious consciousness, and agitates the aspirant, whose life has hitherto been mind of the He no more desire. as every form of egocentric thought and finds an unalloyed satisfaction, in engrossed the (Jravakas or the Pratyekabuddhas do, in his emancipation from the curse of Samsara. sweet the taste of release from the bond individual However of ignoranee, it is freedom perfectly lacking something that makes the agreeable to the Bodhisattva who more of others than of himself; to be sweet it must be highly savored with thinks as well as acceptable, lovingkindness as his or is embraces children. the Prayekabuddha of which than which own is wanting in all his fellow-beings The emancipation like is a saline taste, for of the (Jravaka delicious food it is no more Love go beyond his own a dry, formal philosophical emancipation. that which stimulates a interests. It is the sattvas. The renounce a man mother of sacred motive to all Buddhas and Bodhi- that induces them to of Nirvanic self-complacency, is nothbut their love for all beings. They do boundless ing life CHAPTER 364 not wish to rest want to have XIII. in their individual emancipation, they sentient creatures without a single all exception emancipated and blest in paradisiacal happiness. Love, therefore, bestows on us two spiritual benefits: (i) awakens The It saves Buddha- intelligence in us the following Devala's beings from misery and (2) all passages Mahdpurusa will quoted at random from help our readers to under- stand the true signification of Nirvana and the value of love (karund) as estimated by the Mahayanists. "Those who are their own benefits afraid of transmigration and happiness in final and seek emancipation, comparable to those Bodhisattvas, who when rejoice they come to assume a material existence once again, for it affords them another opportunity to are not at all benefit others. their own Those who are only capable of feeling selfish sufferings may not trouble themselves with enter into Nirvana [and the sufferings of other themselves] but the Bodhisattva who feels in himself all the sufferings of his fellow-beings as his own, how can he bear the thought of leaving creatures like ; others behind while he is on his and when he himself pation, quietude Nirvana ? way is to final emanci- resting in Nirvanic in truth consists in rejoicing being made happy, and Samsara in not so He who feels a universal love for his fellow- at other's feeling. creatures will rejoice in distributing blessings them and 1 Compare find his Nirvana in so doing. this Buddhist among 1 sentiment of universal love with that of the Christian religion and we shall see the truth that CHAPTER XIII. 365 "Suffering really consists in pursuingjme's egotistic^ happiness^while Nirvana found is in sacrificing one's welfare for the sake of others. People generally think that no own their finds emancipation when they are released pain, but a man with loving heart an is it from from misery. in rescuing others it "With people who are not kindhearted, there is sin that will not be committed by them. They are the called softened at most wicked whose the of sight others, hearts are not misfortune and suffering. "When all beings are tortured and by avarice, passion, and are constantly threatened by the misery of birth and death, disease and decay how can the Bodhisattva live among humor, ill infatuation, them and not "Of most. all good It . feel pity for is virtues, folly, them? lovingkindness stands fore- the source of all merit. . . It is the all religions are one at the bottom. We read in Thomas a Kempis's Imitation of Christ (ch. XIII): "My son, I descended from heaven for thy salvation I took upon me thy sorrows, not necessity but love drawing me thereto; that thou thyself mightest learn patience and bear temporal sufferings without repining For from the hour of my birth, even until my death on the cross, I was not without suffering of grief." This is exactly the sentiment that stimulates the Bodhisattvas ; to their gigantic task of universal salvation. Those who are from sectarian biases will admit without hesitation that there is but one true religion which may assume various forms according to circumstances. "Many are the roads to the summit, but when reached there we have but one universal free moonlight." CHAPTER 366 mother of "The one Buddhas. all refuge in the Let us When sorts of pain." all another interesting passage from a sutra. Vimalakirti was asked made he and that beings my am of their of I ill. is my When all of As all 'sentient be 'healed shall I full there arises illness. illness, Why? The too. illness, cause so ill, healed are did not feel "From ignorance : the" is sentient beings are why he following reply, which the significance religious annoyed by is beings are constantly tortured and all quote Mahayana of induces others to take loving heart of a Bodhisattva threatened by desire It . incomparable Bodhi. thing, that well, . XIII. Bodhisattva suffers and death because of sentient beings. As there birth and death, so there is illness. When sentient birth is are delivered suffer no more beings will a good family when he with is is the too. When Do you wish again. illness is? The they to illness his all-embracing love an only son are well loves When are in feel sick too: parents He children. sick When they Bodhisattva. own the Bodhisattvas illness, the sick, recovered as his beings is is from illness. again. So it sentient all they are sick, he recovered, know whence he is well this [sympathetic] of the Bodhisattva comes from (makakarund"). This gospel of universal love is the consummation of all religious emotions whatever their origin. Without this, is there is no animated with religion life and that spirit. is, For no it religion that is in the fact CHAPTER and of things nature mere contemplation religion may have we are not moved by mere philosophising. Every that or its 367 XIII. own way of intellectually in- fact, but the practical result remains terpreting the same everywhere, viz. that it cannot survive without the animating energy of love. Whatever sound this reasoning there may be in the doctrine of r&vaka and the Pratyekabuddha, the force that and fine the is destined to from misery is conquer the world and to deliver us not intellection, but the will, i. e. the purvapranidhana of the Dharmakaya Conclusion. We now conclude. What we have seen above is that not the annihilation of it not is the aspirations their most evident from what Mahayana Nirvana the but life its is enlightenment, that human of nullification but is passions and and ennoblement. purification world of eternal transmigration is not a place which should be shunned as the playground of evils, This should be regarded as the place of ever-present opportunities given to us for the purpose of unfoldbut ing all our spiritual possibilities and powers for the is no need for us sake of the universal welfare. There to shrink, like the snail into his cozy shelter, before the duties and burdens of the contrary, births of evil and and finds deaths solves subjective ignorance. life. Nirvana and it in boldly by The Bodhisattva, on a concatenation of faces the problem purifying the Bodhi from CHAPTER 368 His rule of conduct XIII. is: "Sabba papassa akaranam, Kusalassa upasampada, Sacitta pariyodapanam ; Etam buddhanu sasanam." ' His aspirations are solemnly expressed in this, which we hear daily recited in the Mahayana Buddhist temples and monasteries and seminaries : vow to save vow to destroy; however numberless, I take vow to study "Sentient beings, however innumerable, Evil passions, however inextinguishable, I take I take ; The avenues of truth, The way of the Enlightened, however unsurpassable, I take vow to attain." And an will ; indefatigable pursuit of these noble aims finally lead to the heaven of the Buddhists, Nirvana, which is not a of eternal state quietude, but the source of energy and intelligence. By way of summary, and to avoid tions, let me repeat once more no negation of life, nor is on the misery of existence. consists by no means it in the all misconcep- that Nirvana an The is thus idle contemplation life of a Buddhist monotonous repetition of reciting the sutras and going his rounds for meals. Far from that. He enters into all the forms of lifeactivity, for 1 he does not believe that universal emanci- The Dharmapada, XIV. 5. Mr. A. J. Edmunds's translation "Ceasing to do all wrong, Initiation into goodness, Cleansing ,the heart: This the religion of the Buddhas." is, CHAPTER achieved is ipation 369 XIII. by imprisoning himself in the cloister. Theoretically speaking, Nirvana is the dispersion of the clouds of ignorance hovering around the light of the suppression of egoism and the awakening of love (karuna). Religiously, it is the absolute surrender of the self to the will of the Bodhi. Morally, Dharmakaya. is When our persing, it the clouds of ignorance are dishorizon gets clearer and intellectual we perceive that our individual existences are bubbles and lightnings, but that thay obtain wider like ; oneness with the Body of Dharma. This conviction compels us to eternally abandon our reality old in their egoistic conception of The ego life. finds its significance only when it is conceived in relation to the not-ego, that is, to the alter in other words, selflove has no meaning whatever unless it is purified ; by love for others. But remain blind and unenlightened, with the will of the must not this love for others it must be Dharmakaya which in harmony norm the is of existence and the reason of being. The mission of love is ennobled and fulfilled in its true sense when we come to Love without the faith that says "thy will be done." this resignation to the divine ordinance merely another form of egoism the root is already rotten, how can its trunk, stems, leaves, and flowers is : make a veritable growth? Let us then conclude with the following reflections of the Bodhisattva, signification of in which we read the whole Buddhism. 24 CHAPTER 37O XIII. "Having practised all the six virtues of perfection (pdramita) and innumerable other meritorious deeds, the Bodhisattva reflects in this wise: u 'All the benefit of good deeds practised by me are fication [from sin]. I pray that all innumerable (parivarta) all beings existences; beings and the merit of these good deeds By sentient beings be released from the of existence. of these and by them suffered sufferings abodes various for the sentient beings, for their ultimate puri- all deeds the By I their turning over would be a haven them from deliver in for miserable their would be a great beacon-light to all dispel the darkness of ignorance and make I the light of intelligence shine.' "He " reflects again in this wise sentient 'All are beings : karma creating evil in innumerable ways, and by reason of this karma they innumerable sufferings. They do not recognise suffer the Tathagata, do not not pay homage All these listen to the Good Law, do to the congregration of holy beings carry an innumerable men. amount of karma and are destined to suffer in innumerable ways. For their sake I will in the midst of great evil the three evil creations surfer all their sufferings and one of them. Painful as these sufferings not retreat, I will not be frightened, I will deliver every are, will I not be negligent, Why? that Because all cipated.' I it will is not forsake the will my fellow-beings. [of the Dharmakaya] eman- sentient beings should be universally CHAPTER "He " XIII. 371 reflects again in this wise: 'My conduct will be like the sun-god who with his universal illumination seeks not any reward, who ceases not on account of one unrighteous person to make a great display of his magnificent glory, who on account of one unrighteous person abandons not the salvation (parivarta) of of my of all all beings. my merits fellow-creatures Avatamsaka Sutra, fas Through the dedication would make every one I happy and XIV). " joyous.' (The APPENDIX HYMNS OF MAHAYANA FAITH. DHARMAKAYA (TATHAGATA). In all With 1 beings there abideth the Dharmakaya; all virtues dissolved in it, it liveth in eternal calmness. knoweth nor birth nor death, coming nor going; Not one, not two not being, not becoming Yet present everywhere in worlds of beings: This is what is perceived by all Tathagatas. All virtues, material and immaterial, It ; ; Dependent on the Dharmakaya, are Like unto the makaya sky is eternally pure in the ultimate nature of the Dhar- ; Far away from the six dusts, Of no form and devoid of it all is defilement-free. attributes makaya, In which are void both actor and action The it. Dharmakaya of all Buddhas, thus is the Dhar- : beyond com- prehension, Quells all the struggles of sophistry and dialectics, Distances all the efforts of intellection, Thoughts all are dead in it, and suchness alone abideth. APPENDIX. 376 THE DHARMAKAYA OF TATHAGATA. 2 the worlds over the ten quarters, ye, sentient creatures living there, Behold the most venerable of men and gods, In all O Whose spiritual Dharma-body As through the power A host of thoughts is is immaculate and pure. of one mind, evolved : So from one Dharma-body of Tathagata, Are produced all the Buddha-bodies. In Bodhi nothing dual there existeth, Nor is any thought of self present: The Dharma-body, undenled and non-dual, In its full splendor manifesteth itself everywhere. Its Its Its is like unto the vastness of space manifested forms are like unto magic shows; virtues excellent are inexhaustible, ultimate reality This, indeed, the spiritual state of Buddhas ; only. Buddhas of the present, past, and future, one of them is an issue of the Dharma-body immaculate and pure Responding to the needs of sentient creatures, They manifest themselves everywhere, assuming corporeality which is beautiful. All the Each ; They never made the premeditation That they would manifest in such and such forms. Separated are they from all desire and anxiety. And free and self-acting are their responses. APPENDIX. 377 They do not negate the phenomenality of dharmas, Nor do they affirm the world of individuals : But manifesting themselves in all forms, They teach and convert all sentient creatures. The Dharma-body Neither All is it dharmas is not changeable, unchangeable; [in essence] are without change, But manifestations are changeable. The Sambodhi knoweth no bounds, Extending as Its far as the limits of the depths are bottomless, and Words and speeches its Dharmaloka extent limitless are powerless to describe itself; ; it. Of all the ways that lead to Enlightenment The Tathagata knoweth the true significance; Wandering freely all over the worlds, Obstacles he encountereth nowhere. THE TATHAGATA. The Tathagata appeared not on Nor did he enter into Nirvana; By He 3 (i) earth, the supreme power of his inmost reveals himself freely as he wills. will, 4 This fact is beyond comprehension, Belongs not to the sphere of a limited consciousness, Only an intelligence perfect and gone beyond Is able to have an insight into the realm of Buddhas. APPENDIX 378 The Nor is not the Tathagata, the sound nor is the voice, not is Yet he beyond the visible and the audible: The Buddha has indeed a power miraculous. material body : People of little faith are unable to know The inmost adytum of Buddhahood. It is by the perfecting of primordial karma-intelligence That the realm of all Buddhas is revealed. Buddhas come from nowhere, for nowhere: All And depart The Body Is of Dharma that is pure, immaculate, and incomprehensible, invested with a power miraculously free. In infinity of worlds, Revealing itself in the body of Tathagata, universally preaches the Law supremely excellent, And in its heart no attachment lingers. It An intellect that knows no Perceives no obstacles in limits or bounds all dharmas, And penetrates into the depths of the Dharmaloka, Revealing itself with a power miraculously divine. All sentient beings and all creatures, understandeth thoroughly without difficulty Its Bodies of Transformation are innumerable, It And universally revealed in all : the worlds. Those who seek after All-knowledge course of time attain perfect enlightenment; May Let them above all purify the heart in And complete their discipline in Bodhisattvahood. APPENDIX. And then they will 379 see the Tathagata's Immeasurable power that comes from his free will; Devoid of all doubts they are, and accompanied With sages whose virtue is unsurpassable. THE TATHAGATA The Tathagata, in pure golden And in person resplendent and 5 (2). color, majestic, innumerable ages past, All merits hath accumulated. In With bliss and wisdom all in perfection, And the highest enlightenment attaining. And with great loving heart animated, He now appeareth in this world of endurance. Men and devas and the eight hosts of demons, pay him homage most reverent, Who, from his inmost self-being, Preacheth the deepest spiritual Dharma. All Which is so unfathomably deep, That Buddha alone can understand it: Multitudes of beings, ignorant and blind, Listening to it, are unable to comprehend. The Tathagata is With is skill Guiding all that the great leader of beings excellent and marvellous, those ignorant souls, By degrees bringeth them to Enlightenment. ; APPENDIX. 380 The And heart of It replenished with beings is miraculously bright, in its being. calm eternally Pure and immaculate and defilement-free, Its is essence Devoid of Knoweth And is all all like merits. all unto the sky: liminations, neither birth nor death, is neither coming nor departing. there Eternally abiding in the Dharma-essence, It is immovable as the Mount Sumeru; The oneness Is in it indeed beyond of all finite beings knowledge. Vulgar minds from time immemorial, Blindly clinging to Are thrown deep And know not all passions, into the how The most profound doctrine of Tathagata, Full of meaning, spiritual With ocean of pain, to escape. and transcendental, recipient intellects in all degrees, In harmony unfoldeth he the Law. A shower of one taste from above Covering all the ten quarters, Grasses and trees, woods and forests, Roots and trunks, large and small, Of all growing on this vast earth, Nothing is there that thereby itself benefiteth The Law May delivered by the Tathagata even be likened unto it. not. APPENDIX. With one voice which is 381 wondrous, He giveth utterance to thoughts innumerable, That are received by audience of all sort, Each understanding them In this wise None Such is among in his own way. the assemblage, there but that enters upon Buddha-knowledge Buddha's miraculous power, called Truly "Incomprehensible." is REPENTANCE. 6 Those who repent as prescribed by the Dharma, Altogether their earthly sins uproot; As fire on doomsday the world will consume, With its mountain peaks and Repentance Repentance Repentance Repentance Repentance Repentance Repentance Repentance infinite seas. burns up of earthly desires the to heaven the sinners is leading fuel; ; the bliss of the four Dhyanas imparteth brings showers of jewels and gems ; ; a holy life renders firm as a diamond; transports to the palace of bliss everlasting; from the triple world's prison releases ; makes blossom the bloom of the Bodhi. APPENDIX. 382 ALL BEINGS ARE MOTHERS AND FATHERS. All senient beings in transmigration travel through the six gatis, Like unto a wheel revolving without beginning and end, Becoming in turn fathers and mothers, men and women: Generations and generations, each owes something to others. Ye should then regard all beings as fathers and mothers; Though this truth is too hidden to be recognised without the aid of All All Holy Knowledge, men are your fathers, women are your mothers. While not yet requiting Why their love received in your prior lives, should ye, thinking otherwise, harbor enmity? Ever thinking of love, endeavor ye to benefit one another And provoke ye not hostility, quarreling and insulting. THE TEN PARAMITAS. O ye, sons of in Buddha, the Holy Way trained, With the Heart of Highest And living in seclusion at Intelligence awakened, the Aranyaka, Should practice the ten paramitas. At daily meal think ye first of almsgiving, also distribute among beings the Treasure of And When the three rings Through Law; 7 are pure, it is called true charity this practice perfected are the merits of discipline. ; ; APPENDIX. Would ye understand 383 the merits of almsgiving? Know ye that it comes from the heart pure, and not from the wealth given ; A Is precious treasure with a heart unclean, surpassed by a mite with a heart clean. Wealth giving a dana-paramita, other dana-paramitas one's life, wife, or children, is And there are To give away This is : called blood-giving. Should a man of good family come and ask for the Let him have all the Mahayana sutras explained, And awaken This is in Law him the Heart of Highest Intelligence; called a true paramita. With sympathy and pure faith and conscience, Embrace ye all beings and befree them from greed, That they might attain to the highest intelligence of the Tathagata The : giving of wealth and of the Law is the first paramita. Firmly observing the three sets of the Bodhisattva-gilas, O ye, evolve the Bodhi, distance birth-and-death, Guard the Repent Law of Buddha and make the of the violation it long live in the world, and be always mindful c,ilas, of the true ones. 8 , Subdue ye anger and hate and cultivate in your heart love and sympathy; Mindful of the karma past, harbor ye not evil thoughts against offenders Be not reluctant This is ; for the sake of all beings to sacrifice life : called the paramitii of meekness. what is hard to practice, hesitate ye not awhile With ever-increasing energy through three asankheya kalpas, In practicing Defile not yourselves, but always discipline the heart; And for the sake of all creatures seek ye salvation. ; APPENDIX. 384 Entering into and rising from the Samadhi, spiritual freedom is obtained : Transforming yourselves and travelling in all the ten quarters, Have for all beings the cause of evil desire removed, And let them seek deliverance in the doctrine of Samadhi. Would ye desire to attain to True Intelligence? Friendly approach Bodhisattvas and Tathagatas Gladly listening to the doctrine transcendental and sublime, Attain ye the three disciplines 9 and remove the two obstacles 10 ; . Recognising difference in the disposition of beings, Apply the medicine proper for each disease : Love and sympathy, skill and expediency, each fitting the case, Try the proper means for the benefit of the multitudes. Would ye know the true meaning of existence? The middle path lies in non-attachment, neither "yea" nor "nay" ; pure is unfathomable and unites in Suchness mine with thine, embracing the whole. Identify Intelligence ; By the force of intellect, grasping the nature of beings, Teach the masses each in accord with his capacity; The force of intellect penetrating through the heart of all beings, Destroys the root of transmigration in birth and death. Intelligently judging between black and white, Conscientiously take hold of one and put the other aside, and let each rest in its place Samsara and Nirvana are but one Fulfilling the ; in their These ten deeds of excellence Comprise all eighty-four thousand virtues Each in its class excels all the others, And is essence ; meaning of existence, cherish ye not self-conceit. ; called the Paramita of Bodhisattva. APPENDIX. 385 Eighty-four thousand samadhis Becalm the disturbant mind of all beings; Eighty-four thousand dharanis Keep away all the prejudices and evil influences. The Great Sage, King Teacheth the Law of Dharma, with marvellous in three ways and converteth all skill, beings ; Casting the net of the Doctrine in the ocean of birth and death, He draweth out men and gods to the abode of bliss. THE BODHI. " All things are of the Bodhi, The Bodhi is in all things The Bodhi and all things are one: ; Who knoweth this is called the World- honored. NIRVANA AND THE THREE EVILS. v Greed is Nirvana; So is hate, and folly; In these three passions There dwells a Buddha-dharma inexpressible. Who xV severalises, thinking, There's greed, and hate, and He is as far '* folly, from Buddha, As heaven from The Bodhi and earth. greed, They're one, not two Out of one Dharma-gate cometh Here's sameness, no diversity. : all; 25 APPENDIX. 386 This hearing, the vulgar stand aghast; Far from the Buddha-path are they. The heart, when innocent Is never troubled. In whose mind And who of greed, self is lurking ia still, imagines that something he has, this man Greedy is And he is What the true nature of greed, the nature of Buddha-dharma That What That is is is is bound called, for hell. ; the nature of Buddha-dharma, the nature of greed. 13 These two are of one nature That is, of no-nature; Who knoweth this truth, Would be ; the world-leader. NON-ATMAN AND PREJUDICE. 14 There once was an ignorant man So afraid of the sky was he That piteously crying he wandered away. Of its sudden collapse he was fearful. But the sky has no boundary, And to nobody 't will be harmful. It was due to his ignorance That he trembled so fitfully. With the Bhikshus and Brahmans It is even so, who are prejudiced. ; Learning that empty is the world, Alarmed are they at heart; And wrongly imagine that if empty were the nature of Atman Nothingness would be the end of all work. APPENDIX. 387 NON-ACTION. As the vacuity of sky, Being so clear and free of cloud and fog, the earth below, Betrays no signs a shower to give: So the enlightened bpon Betray no learning, no intelligence: And we, Can sentient beings, trace no efforts in their deliverance of the Law. 16 SELF-E>ELUSION. There lived once a painter, Who such a monstrous Yaksha painted That he himself was terrified And losing all his senses on the ground he even so with vulgar minds; Infatuated, self-deluded by the senses, Of their own error they are unaware, And go from birth to birth without an end. fell: 'Tis ALL As all IN ONE. the waters in the valley in the ocean Are emptied Which is of one and the same taste So the enlightened, Whatever is Good and beneficial, Turn over And In to the : Bodhi to that Reality which all things become of one and the same taste. APPENDIX. 388 NIHILISM. The How But vast vacuity of space, limitless and measureless! in How 'Tis The The And the midst of the void could a farmer sow his seeds? even so with Nihilism: past is gone forever, future's not here yet, in the present no Buddha-seeds have they. THE NIHILIST. A man who suffers from a disease incurable, excellent his treatment be, Impossible he will find his health to gain, However For 'Tis No means of remedy. even so with them who walk in the way of emptiness matter whereso'er they be, his defies all How Such blindly they are clinging unto I declare to be incurable. it! THE BUDDHA'S DHARMA (i) As in its oneness the element earth Embraces diversities of objects, And Even discriminates not this or that; so is it with all the Buddha's Dharma. As in its oneness the element Burns everything on earth, And discriminates not in Even so is it with all its fire nature ; the Buddha's Dharma. ; APPENDIX. As waters in the vast 389 ocean, Absorbing hundreds of streams, Are of the same taste forever; Even so is it with all the Buddha's Dharma. As the dragon-god with thunder and lightning Brings showers on the earth all over, And the rain-drops discriminate not; Even so is it with the Buddha's Dharma. all THE BUDDHA'S DHARMA. As in (2) her oneness mother earth Creates diversities of seeds And in E'en so her inmost no discrimination knows; is it with all the Buddha's Dharma. As in the cloudless sky the sun O'er the ten quarters all illuminates, And in its brightness E'en so is As high up Beheld by And with it is heavens is the moon beings on earth, it nowhere her glory reaches not; with all the Buddha's Dharma. The Brahma-raja In shows no difference; the Buddha's Dharma. in the all there's E'en so all great thousands of worlds himself And knows E'en so is it all manifests being no diversities; with all the Buddha's Dharma. in his APPENDIX. 39O THE PASSIONS AND WISDOM. Only in the filthiness of soil, Could the seed be sown and grow; Even so in the mire of passion Cherished by all sentient beings All over the world, If by the sons of Buddha well attended There will Just as in The lotus grow the seed to, of Buddha-dharma. and mud grows and blooms, filth Even so in a heart defiled with evil karma The seeds of Buddha-dharma are growing. IGNORANCE AND ENLIGHTENMENT, A (i) mansion there was once which was a hundred thousand years of age occupant was there, nor doors nor windows; Devas and men, all of a sudden, There came and burned a lamp; And the darkness that dwelt so long ; No Departed instantly without a word. The inky darkness that the mansion filled Resisted not, "I've lived here for ages, And I'll never be removed from here." Even with karma-consciousness and the horde of passions in the heart, The analogy holds true. Though there abiding many hundred thousand Their ultimate nature When is not true nor real. a traveler, day or night, Enters upon the truthful path, The lamp of wisdom burns in its full splendor; And the horde of evil passions Cannot tarry there, even for a moment. kalpas, APPENDIX. 391 IGNORANCE AND ENLIGHTENMENT. (2) Bright shines the lamp, the inky night is gone. But with the darkness And The quarters vanish not; Yet this illuminating lamp, If not in the dark, nowhere doth shine For light : and dark depend upon each other; No selfhood having, 16 they're empty. 'Tis even so with enlightenment. In comes enlightenment, out goes ignorance of its own accord But both are like unto the flowers in the air, And For neither by itself exists is one alone, either ; Impossible to keep or to forego. THE BODHISATTVA AND ALL BEINGS 17 Great Mother Earth All creatures Provides and nourishes, But from none of them She seeks a favor special, nor So is the Bodhisattva. is she to any partial: Since his awakening of the Heart, Until he gains the depths of the Law And He realises the highest toils to save all knowledge, creatures, Himself no favor seeking, nor to others granting any; Regardless of friend and enemy, Embracing all with single heart, He fashions one and all * for Bodhi. * * APPENDIX 392 The element Water All permeating Makes herbs and trees In luxury grow, Yet any favor special it nor shows nor seeks; So is the Bodhisattva; With a pure heart of love All sentient beings equally embraces he; All permeating gradually, universally, The seeds immaculate he nourishes, Which, breaking down all evils powerful, Obtain the fruit of Buddha-knowledge. * The element Fire Matures and ripens The tender shoots Yet the element * * all of the cereals; fire From those young plants No favor seeks, nor any shows to them; So is the Bodhisattva : With knowledge-fire Matures he all The tender shoots of creatures ; Yet he from them No favor special seeks, nor shows he any. * * * The element By reason Pervades of Air, its virtue, over Buddha-lands; With the Bodhisattva 'Tis Who even all so, with consummate skill 'To Buddha's children Preaches the Doctrine Holy. APPENDIX. 393 THE BODHISATTVA. * His FIRMNESS. As Mara, the evil one, Commanding his four armies, Even by the devas in the Kamaloka, Cannot be overwhelmed; So is the Bodhisattva, Whose heart, pure and clean, By all the hosts of Evil, Cannot be tempted, nor confused. His PROGRESS. As the new moon, In size increasing gradually, Becomes perfect and full in the end; Even so the Bodhisattva, With a heart defilement-free, All the good dharmas seeking and performing, In virtue gradually progresses, And finally obtains the Law of Purity, perfect and His ENLIGHTENMENT. The rising sun, All illumining, All forms and images in the world In glory are revealed; So is The And the Bodhisattva light of : knowledge emitting, sentient beings illumining, all to wisdom. Bringeth he full. APPENDIX. 394 His FEARLESSNESS. Lion, the king of beasts, Majestic, overpowering, And in the forest wandering, Knows he no So is fear, no terror; the Bodhisattva : Calmly abiding in Learning, Intelligence, and Morality, Throughout the universe, Wherever he wanders about, Knows he no fear, no doubt. f His ENERGY. The giant elephant, With energy wondrous, A burden heavy carrying, Shows not the least fatigue; So is the Bodhisattva: Bearing, for the sake of the masses, The misery of the flesh, He shows not the least apathy. His PURITY. The lotus-flower, Though growing By dirt, or mire, Is So in the or marshy filth not defiled; is the Bodhisattva: Though No form living in this world, of passion Ever touches him. land, APPENDIX. 395 His SELF-SACRIFICE. There Who lived craftily once a man and skillfully Felled the trunks of trees, But left the roots untouched, That after due time They might once more be growing; 'Tis even so with the Bodhisattva With the upaya that is : excellent, Desires and passions down he fells, But leaves their seed unscathed By reason of And thereby his all-embracing love, ever and anon comes he on earth. THE BODHISATTVA'S HOMELESS The homeless Bodhisat regards the home life LIFE. I8 19 world [or the at large] As a hurricane that abates not awhile, Or as the moon's illusive image in water Which the imagination takes deliberately cast, for the real. The water in itself contains no lunar image [real] The real moon, dependent on water clear, a shadow ; casts ; So are all beings unreal only conditionally they exist Yet 'tis imagined by the vulgar that an Atman they have. ; ; The Atman But for a the product of conditions, and real reality the imagination it takes. is Have the two prejudices ao removed, And we perceive Intelligence most high and it is not peerless. ; APPENDIX. 396 Our confused imagination is like unto a black storm, Blowing over the woods of birth and death, stirs up the leaves of consciousness By the four winds of fallacy And : 'tis haunted all the time, damnation-causes it produces, Entwining are indeed the roots of evil, which are three, Through birth and death doth transmigration ever five onward move. Who and in them devoutly believe, view acquire, right they removing all the thoughts which are fallacious, And every instant growing are Seeds of Intelligence, And the Samadhi of knowledge great and of spirituality is awakened. to the Sutras listen The When well disciplined in speculation In the dark no more we deep and grope, nor do we subtle, reap the crop of pain; Perceiving Suchness in the ultimate nature of things, Subject and object both gone, and vanished are all sins. Female and male, they're essentially The ignorant attributes, and they are void : and imagine create the two which only relatively exist. The Buddha has destroyed permanently And ignorance, in the ultimate the cause of reality nothing particular sees he, male or female. The excellent fruit of wisdom, the The same if ever attained, remains for aye; nathless imagine wrongly and see therein a concrete and definite. thing The Buddha's features thirty-two are after all no-features Who sees no-features in the features, the feature true he vulgar ; understands. APPENDIX. To wander homeless, and immaculate deeds to practise, Over the heart This to watch, in solitude quietly to sit: the rightful is Erelong 397 will the Bodhisattva cleanses his heart way he attain the fruit ; of enlightenment. THE BUDDHIST. 21 Encourage not, for your self-interests, Heterodoxy and false doctrines; A merciful heart for all have ye Remove stupidity and untruth from your minds; Be ye Tathagata's most faithful servants; And teach the masses who are ignorant, To them the Bodhi impart, on yourselves it practising; And thereby make the Buddha's name resound on earth Deliver the multitudes from sin and initiate them To the perfect enlightenment of the Buddha: ; Ye by these virtues firmly stand, And your Intelligence-heart doth never ; fail. HYMN TO THE BODHISATTVA. 22 With lovingkindness, a Great Being who saves and protects, Regards all beings impartially as his only child; Energetically, cheerfully, and without stint, His life he sacrifices, uprooting pain, and bringing bliss unspeakable. Surely he will attain the height of truth and beauty, Forever be freed from the entanglement of birth and death. And erelong will he the Eternally peaceful, and fruit of in enlightenment obtain, the Uncreate joy finding. APPENDIX. 398 A VOW OF THE BODHISATTVA. 23 For the sake of all sentient beings on earth, I aspire for the abode of enlightenment which is most high In all-embracing love awakened, and with a heart steadily ; firm, Even my life I it is. sorrows are found, no burning desires In enlightenment no 'Tis enjoyed by all men who ; are wise. creatures from the turbulent waters of the sentient All dear as will sacrifice, triple world, I'll release, and to eternal pease them I'll lead. THE TRUE HOMELESS ONE. 24 Though not wearing Whose the yellow robe, from defilement, In the doctrine of Buddhas, He is the true homeless one. heart is free Though not devoid Who And He has cut off in is whose heart showy ornaments, entanglements, exists neither knottiness nor looseness, the true homeless one. Though not initiated Whose heart is And open only He of all by the Rules, clean of all evil thoughts, to tranquillity, intelligence, Though not instructed in the Law, Whose insight goes deep into the And is no more deluded by sham He and virtuous deeds, is the true homeless one. is the true homeless one. ultimate, appearances, APPENDIX. 399 The mind that takes no thought of the ego, That goes beyond the illusory phenomena, Yet sinks not into stupidity Truly awakened to Intelligence it is. Whose mind, awakened to Intelligence, Sees no substantiality in the ego, And, not seeing, yet remains firm, This man cannot be injured. THE BODHISATTVA'S SPIRITUAL LIFE. Like unto the vast ocean that receives All the waters, and yet overflows not; Even so is the Bodhisattva, Who knoweth no fatigue in seeking the merits of the Dharma. Again, like unto the vast ocean that absorbs All the streams, and yet shows no increase; Even so is the Bodhisattva, receiving the deepest Dharma, nothing gaineth. Who, ' Again, like unto the vast ocean that refuses to take filth, And wherein when absorbed doth foulness change to purity; Even so Whom is all the Bodhisattva, filth of passion cannot tarnish. the Again, like unto the vast ocean whose bottom omable Even so Whose is is ; the Bodhisattva, virtues and wisdom are so immeasurable That none ever knows their limits. unfath- APPENDIX 4OO . Again, like unto the vast ocean in which there's no diversity, and streams pouring thereinto become of All the waters one taste alone; Even so Who listeneth to is the Bodhisattva, one note of Dharma. Again, like unto the vast ocean that existeth not interests of one individual For the Even so Whose ; the Bodhisattva, aspirations are for the benefit of is Again, like unto the vast ocean that all. embosoms the jewel called "all-jewel." Of which all jewels are produced Even so is the jewel-treasure of the Bodhisattva, For it is through this that all the other jewels shine. ; Again, like unto the vast ocean that produces the three kinds of jewel, And yet Even so Who, discriminates not between them ; the teaching of the Bodhisattva, equally delivering the three yanas, maketh not any is distinction. Again, like unto the vast ocean that by degrees becomes deeper Even Who, ; the Bodhisattva, practising virtues for the sake of so is Forever aspireth after the all, deepest omniscience. Again, like unto the vast ocean that harbors not a corpse Even so is the Bodhisattva, Who. with the heart of purity and the vow ; of Bodhi, Harboreth not a passion, nor the thought of the Qravaka. APPENDIX. 4OI THE BODHISATTVA'S all Perceiving FAITH, (i) 27 in one, And one in all, The Bodhisattva work diligent in his never given up to indolence. Is Pain he shunneth not, to pleasure he clingeth not, is ever bent on the deliverance of all beings; As he To him And of He is all Buddhas themselves reveal, is never weary. will their presence he in the Where is deepest depths O f the Dharma, found the inexhaustible ocean of merit. All sentient beings in the fivefold path of existence, loveth as his own child; He Removing things unclean and filthy, Supplying them with dharmas pure and immaculate. THE BODHISATTVA'S FAITH. 28 (2) While to the doctrine most high listening, of Pure Intelligence within me glows, That shining over all the universe The Light All the enlightened ones to Who me reveals. think there are individuals They put themselves in the position most difficult; Dharmas have no ego-master which is real, For they are merely names and expressions. The vulgar and ignorant know not That within themselves they have a reality true and That the Tathagata is not of any particular form; Therefore the Tathagata they see not. real, APPENDIX. 4O2 Dirt and dust obscuring their intelligence-eye, Enlightenment perfect and true they see not; And throughout kalpas immeasurable and innumerable, and death they go arolling. In the stream of birth Wandering and rolling No-more-arolling is is Samsara, Nirvana; Yet Samsara and Nirvana, Absolutely, exists neither of them. To believer in falsehood and sophistry, is here and Nirvana there ; Samsara Clearly they grasp not the Dharma of ancient sages, the Path Incomparable. Nor understand Those who thus cling to forms individual, Of Buddha's universal enlightenment, though they hear, Themselves negate, and away they wander from th( right course of thought; Therefore, they cannot see the Buddha. Who the Dharma of Truth perceive, Serene they are for aye, and abide in Suchness Enlightenment most truthful they understand, Transcending words and all the modes of speech. Illusory are No No all ; forms individual; such thing as dharma here exists: enlightened ones Seek Truth in things particular. Whose insight to the past extends, To the future and over the present, And who fore'er abides in serenity of He's said to be a Tathagata. Suchness, APPENDIX. THE BODHISATTVA'S 4O3 FAITH. 29 (3) I would rather suffer sufferings innumerable That I might listen to the voices of Buddhas, Than enjoy all sorts of pleasure not hear Buddhas' names. And The reason why We And Is A A since ages out of mind suffer sufferings countless transmigrate through birth and death, we have not heard Buddhas' names that reality that exists in things unreal, perfect Intellect synthetising truth and falsehood, that which transcends all the modes of relativity, And This is called the Bodhi. Buddhas of the present are not products of composite conditions, are those of the past, nor those of the future. What is formless in all forms, Nor That is Who thus perceives the true essence of Buddhas. The deepest significance of all existences, In innumerable Buddhas, he will see The truth and reality of the Dharma-body. The Dharma-body knows truth as true, And falsehood as false, And well understands the realm of reality; Therefore, it is called perfect intellect. The enlightened has nothing enlightened, Which is the true spirituality of all Buddhas: And in this wise they behave, Neither to be one nor to be two. APPENDIX. 4O4 They see the one in the many, They see the many in the one The Dharma has nothing to depend upon; How could it be a product of combination? The actor and the action, Neither, really subsists: Who can understand Seeks not And this, reality in either of here where reality is them. unseekable, Buddhas The And find there the resting abode Dharma has nothing to depend upon ; the enlightened have nothing to cling to. NOTES TO THE APPENDIX This and the following are translations from some Mahayana texts in the Buddhist Tripitaka, which were rendered into the Chinese language at various times from Sanskrit 1 mostly through the co-operation of the Hindu missionaries and Chinese scholars. A detailed analysis of these texts is most urgently needed, as they contain many informations of great importance not only concerning the history of Buddhism in India but also concerning early Hindu culture generally. A rather incomplete idea as to their contents and material and character will be attained by the perusal of Rev. Nanjo's Catalogue of the Chinese Tripitaka, Oxford, 1883. general Mahayana-mulajata-hrdayabhumi-dhyana 955,) fas. Sutra, 8 The Avatamsaka, 3 The Avatamsaka, (Buddhabhadra's translation), 4 To conceive ed on earth is 6 fas. xiv., p. fas. xiv, p. 72. the Tathagata as a personal being who appear- and then eternally dis- He reveals himself constantly will in this world of particulars. not Mahayanistic. Sarvadharma-pravrtti-nirdefa Sutra (Nanjo, no. 1012) <- Mahayana-mulajata-hrdavabhumi-dhyana Sutra (Nanjo 955), fas. iii, p. 75. The three 7 no. 73. for a certain limited time appeared and of his own 5 (Nanjo, iii. rings are: i. the giver, 2. the receiver, and the thing given, material or immaterial. 8 2. all Precepts. The three sets are: to the accumulation of merit, beings. 3. one relating to good behavior, and 3. to lovingkindness toward i. NOTES. 406 The mental 9 (subjective), physical (objective), 10 The 11 Sarvadharma-pravrtti-nirde^a Sutra. intellectual and the and oral. affective. This Literally, "when greed is neither born nor dead." means, to live in the world as not living in it. This subjective divine innocence is thought by Buddhists the essence of the religious life. The consciousness of one's worth, or self12 is conceit, As a obstacle in the path of perfect virtue. mechanical work or physical exercise, we great in the case of attain perfect skillfulness only when the work is involuntarily without any conscious effort on the part of the performer; so in our moral and spiritual life we attain the height of virtuousness or saintliness when we identify our- done, i.e., selves with the reason of our being. This is Laotze's doctrine of non-action or non-resistance, and also the teaching of Bhagavadgita. As remarked elsewhere, when a man reaches this stage of religious life, he ceases to be human, but divine, in the sense that he transcends the world of good and evil and eternally abides in the realm of the beautiful. the 19 This a very radical statement and is enough to frighten and "God-fearing" pietists. Therefore, it is said that "Give not that which is holy to the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine." But think not that this is expounding antinomianism. timid is moralists "This and all Parivarta (Nonjo, the following are taken from the Kasyapa805). 15 This gatha may not be very intelligible to our readers. The sense is: Whatever is done by a Buddha or Bodhisattva does not come from logical calculation or deliberate premeditation, but immediately from his inmost heart, which, in most natural and freest manner, responds to the needs of This response is altogether free from all human the suffering. elaboration, for the Buddha shows no painful and struggling so doing. Everything he does is like the work of nature herself. His life is above the narrow sphere of human morality which is marked with a desperate struggle between efforts in good and evil. His is in the realm of the divinely beautiful. NOTES 4O7 . 16 "Having no selfhood" (svabhavd), means that things have no independent existence, no self-nature which will eternally preserve their thingish identity. This theory has been ex- plained in the chapter dealing with the doctrine of non-atman. To state summarily, darkness and light are conditioned by each other; apart from darkness there is no light, and conno meaning. Even so with one and independent of the other, ignorance: enlightenment they have no existence, they cannot be conceived. They are versely, without light darkness has projected there by a confused but our ideal fabrication. To nothing They only, forgetting that we are living in the world imaginary flowers like subjectivity. cling to God the in below, in the air are world of relativity, is just as much one-sided whirlpool of earthly pleasures without the thought of God. Life, however, is not antithetic, but synthetic. Truth is never one-sided, it is always in the middle. Therefore, seek enlightenment in ignorance and truth as to in error. lose ourselves A dualistic in the interpretation of the world and life is not approved by Buddhists. Compare the sentiment expressed herein with Emerson's poem as elsewhere quoted, in which these lines occur: in the mud and scum of things, There always, always, something sings." "But 11 The Kasyapaharivarta Sutra (Nonjo, 805.) is: The Bodhisattva never desires a complete absorption in the Absolute, in which no individual existences are distinguishable, fie always leaves the "Will to live" 18 The sense as unhurt, it were, so that he could come in this world of particulars ever and anon. What he has destroyed is the egoistic assertion of the Will, for the aim of Buddhism is not it to in remove the its true eternal principle of life, but to manifest The wishes of the Bodhisattva, never egocentric he knows that transmigration significance. therefore, are and rebirth are painful, but as ; it is by rebirth alone that he could mingle himself in the world of sin and save the suffering creatures therein, he never shuns the misery of life. His work of revelation is constant and eternal. 19 The Mahayana-midajati-hrdayabhumi-dhyana Sutra, fas. IV. NOTES 408 20 The two prejudices or obstacles that i that which arises lie enlightenment are: shortsightedness; 31 2. Sutra on Makdkdsyapa's Question Concerning Suvarna-Prabha Sutra. 23 Suvarna-Prabha Sutra, Chap. 26 Padmapani our way to intellectual that which arises from impurity of heart. 22 24 in from Sutra, Fas. the Absolute. 8. 25 The Avalamsaka Sutru. 28 This means that the heart of the Bodhisattva which is pure and eternal in its essential nature has nothing added externally to it by studying the Dharma; for the Dharma is nothing else than the expression of his own heart. 27 The Avatamsaka^ fas. IX, p. 48. This pantheistic thought of the One-All is generally considered to be Buddhistic; but the truth is that every genuine religious sentiment inevitably leads us to this final conviction. Even in the so-called trans- monotheistic Christianity, we find the pantheistic thought boldly proclaimed and put in contrast to the idea of "our Father which art in Heaven." For instance, read the cendental following passage from Thomas a Kempis: "He to whom all things are one, he who reduceth all things to one, and seeth all things in one, may enjoy a quiet mind, and remain at peace in God." (Chap. III.) The passage in the Gospel of John declaring that "the Father is in me and I in him," when logically carried out, comes to echo the same sentiment entertained the by Buddhists, who recognise a manifestation of in all beings, animate as well as inanimate. Christianity of to-day is that of Paul as expounded in his letters, but the future one will advance a few steps more Dharmakaya The and will be that of John. 78 From the Avatamsaka Sutra. 29 From the Avatamsaka Sutra. INDEX. Abhimuki (sixth stage of Bodhisattvahood), 318. Acala (eighth stage of Bodhisattvahood), 322. Agoka, King, 49. Agrava explained, 249 (evil), ft. Agunya, 22, 95. Agvaghosha, 4, 8, 61 ft., 65 ft., m ; 115; on Alaya, 66ft. Awakening of Faith, 7; on Suchness, 99; on Ignorance, 118; and Dionysius, 102 ft. Buddhacarita, quoted, 147; on Mahayanism, 246 on the Sambhogakaya, I2Q. 139 ft- ; ; ; 258, 333- Agnosticism, 25. Alaya (or Alaya-vijnana), All-conserving Soul, 66 as deposand creator of the universe, 68 itory of "germs", 66 128 and the its the Garbha, 125 et seq evolution, ; ; ; ; ; soul, 165 ; and the twelve nidanas, 183. Amitabha, 207, 219, 269 Ananartha (non-particularisation), 72. Ananda attempts to Anapanam, exercise locate the soul, 157. in breathing, 53 ft* Arada, 146. Arcismati (fourth stage of Bodhisattvahood), 316, Arhatship and Mahayanism, 288. Aryadeva, 3 ft., 8, 60. Asanga (and Vasubandhu), 234, 263, 354. 4, 62, 65, 69, 87, 88, 153, 231, INDEX. 41O Asceticism repudiated, 52, 53. Atman, and Samkhyan Lingham, 38 and the Vedantic garira, and unity of consciousness, 39 38 and Vijnana, and and karma, 41 40 impermanency, 43 and egoism, ; ; ; ; ; ; u 44; and the "old man", 165. (See also ego" and "soul".) Atonement, vicarious, 291 ft. Avatamsaka Sutra, The, on Bodhisattva's 369 reflections, et seq. Avenikas (unique features), 327 Avidya (ignorance), 35 et seq., Balas, Ihte ten, of the Beal, Samuel, ft. 115. Buddha, 327. 20 et seq. refuted, Scriptures, quoted, 157 ft.; Catena of Buddhist Romantic History of Buddha, quoted, on Buddha's enlightenment, 337. Bhagavadgzta, quoted, 126 ft. Bhutatathata (Suchness), 99 et seq ; and Mahayana, 7 and ; perfect knowledge, 92. Bodhi (wisdom), 46 and Prajna ; perfect knowledge, 92 Nagarjuna, 297 awakened in ; as human a its ; defined, etc., 82 ft. meaning explained, 294 reflex of Dharmakaya, 299 ; ; ; as by how heart, 302. Bodhicitta (Intelligence-heart), 52. (See also "Bodhi.") Bodhi-Dharma, of Dhyana sect, 103, 149, 155. Bodhipakshikas, the seven, 316 et seq. in the three Bodhisattva, above samsara and nirvana, 72 the in conception of, yanas, 277 primitive Buddhism, ; ; 286 ; 308 ; we are, 290 ; and love, 292 ; his ten pranidhanas, his reflections, 369. Bodhisattvahood, ten stages Bodhisattva-yana, of, 70, 311 et seq. 9. Brahdaranyaka Upanishad, quoted, 102 ft. INDEX. Buddha, and his self-relying spirit, 57; culmination of the in karma, 215; of, historically Mahayana and texts, spiritual Dharmakaya, 255 80 minor marks of greatness, 271 of idealisation, in the 289 and Mara, 334; on the ego-soul process good 243; the idealisation treated, 249 et seq.; in the Trikaya ; 252; and the the human, major 411 religious career, ; his 32 ; in the ; Mahayanism, 291 in the ; beginning of his 337. Buddhacarita, quoted, 57. Buddhadharma, 355. Buddha- Essence, Discourse on, 357 ft. Buddha-intelligence, 364. Buddhism(s), geographically divided, 3,4; two, 4 et seq. and atheism, 31 and the soul problem, 31 et seq. and ; ; and modern psychology, 40; intellectual, and speculation, 81 et liberal, 56 et seq. agnosticism, 35 56 et seq. seq. ; ; ; ; ; and science, 97. Buddhist(s) classified, 8 et seq. ; life and love, 52 53; aspiration, 368; rule of conduct, 368. ; ideal, ^ (Jakyamuni contrasted to Devadatta, 200. Carlyle's Hero- Worship, quoted, 325 ft. Causation,uni versa! aqH pmpHness. 176.^ Christ and Buddha, compared, 57, 58. j Christian conception of the ego-soul, 166. Christianity, the 12 et seq.; and Qikshas (moral Confucius, 63 growth its of, compared with Mahayanism, founder, 13; not intellectual, 79. rules), ten, 70 ft. ft. Consciousness, subliminal, 201. Conservation of energy, and karma, 34. Convictions, the four, of the Buddha, 327. INDEX. 412 Qravaka, 277. 9. (Jravaka-yana, frimdla Sutra, quoted, 127. Qunyata, (or gunya), 95; 22, and Christian critics, 105; explained, 173; and universal causation, 176. (see "ten stages of Dagabhumi, Deussen, Bodhisattvahood"), 311,329 quoted, 107. P., Devala, 361, 364. Dharma, meaning, 21, 221. its Dharmadhatu, 115 193. ft, Dharmakaya, Mahayana, seq. ; 7 briefly ; the highest principle, 35 Paramatman, 46 and wisdom, 46, God and ; 54, 55 > ; ledge, 92 ft. ; 5 20, et 45 ; and 46 as love and non-ego, 47; and the Golof Christians, den Rule, 48; and Bodhisattvas, 61 nation, 63 explained, and Brahman, 46 ; its ; universal incar- Trikaya, 73,257; as perfect knowa as a cosmic mind, 123 prajna, 94 in the and ; ; unity, 193; and Suchness, 217; as God, 219; as religious object, 222 ; Avatamsaka Sutra, 223 in the characterisation, 224; love, 232 its its five loving modes ; its detailed phenomenal world, 231; as heart in the Avatamsaka, 233 ; ; by Asanga and Vasubandhu, of operation, 235 ; its freedom, 236; purvanidhanabala, 237; as rational will, 238; as father, 239; and its a seven characteristics, 234 234; its as ; in the perpetual revelation, 259; the evolution of conception, 272 all beings are one in, 290 and the its ; ; Bodhi, 295. Dharmapada, The, quoted, 34, 145, 336, 368. Dharmamegha (tenth stage of Bodhisattvahood), 326. Dharmapala, the Anagarika, 3 ft. Discourse on Buddha- Essence, The, by Vasubandhu, 357. Durangama (seventh stage of Bodhisattvahood), 319. INDEX. 413 Ego, not the source of energy, 55 noumenal, 145, 163 ; phenomenal, 145 empirical, 163. Egoism and the evolution of Manas, ; ; Ego-soul, and 149; 1 66 ; its 147 134. and the ; five skandhas, by Ananda, 157; and the Christian located and attributes, Vedantic the conception, 167 et seq. flesh, ; and Nagarjuna, 168 and svabhava, 171; and Christians, 212; as conceived by Buddha when he started on his religious ; career, 337. (See also "Ego", "atman" Ekacitta, (one mind or thought), 70 Elders, the School of, and "soul"). ft. 248 et seq. Elephant and the blind, 100. Emerson, quoted, 29 Enlightenment, 55, 119; and manas, 134; two obstacles 344 ft. Faith, its contents vary, 27 et seq. Fatalism, 196. Gautama and Christ, 29. (See also '-Buddha"), God, the Buddhist, 219. (See also "Dharmakaya"). Goethe's Faust, quoted, 181. Golden Rule, the, universal, 54. Great Council School, the, 248 et seq. Guyau, French sociologist, 50 Hartmann's Unbewusste, 137. Hetus and Pratyayas, 33, 41, Hinayanism, I, ft., 142, 84. 148. 60, 63, 280. Hugo, Victor, quoted, 58 Hui-K'e, second patriarch of Zen sect, 148. to, INDEX. 41 4 Iccantika (incapable of salvation), 311. Ignorance, 35 et seq. and evolution, 115; and conscious122; when evil ? 124; and Tathagata- ; 120; no evil, Garbha, 126; and Manas, 133; and Prakrit, 138 ness, Imitation of Christ, 365 38 Immortality, and Dharmakaya, 54 ; ft. fn. karmaic and not ; individual, 214. Injustice, social, and karma, 186 awakened by Intelligence, Jataka Tales, love, 362. the, quoted, 156. Jesus, 6. Jivatman, 145, Kant, 6; Critique of Pure Reason., quoted, 324. Karma, and the law of causation, 33 briefly explained, deand suchness, 181 33 et seq. and non-atman, 42 ; ; ; nned, 181 injustice, view, 192 ; the working of, 183; ; irrefragable, 184; and 186; and the moral laws, 189; an individualistic and the desire to communicate, 195 ami ; ; determinism, 196 ; not like a machine, 198 ; and immor- and Walt Whitman (quoted), 203 how transand Dharmakaya, 207 and productions of mitted, 205 and invention, 210; and "seeds of activity," ^rt.2o8 tality, 203 ; ; ; ; : KarmT-seeds, 134. Karuna (love), 46, 82, 238, 296; and Prajna, 360. Kathopanishad, quoted, 4/. Knowledge (sambodhi), 3 ft. ; three kinds of, Kugalamula, 199. Lalita Vistara, quoted, on Nirvana, 339 fn. 67, 87. INDEX. 4l5 Lankavatara Sutra, quoted, 41, 130. Laotze, 63 Laotzean ft. Wn wei, 285. Love, and ego, 55 and Nirvana, 362. ; Madhyamika, The, on Nirvana, 347. Madhyamika school, 21, 62, 66; and the Yogacarya, on truth, 95. Mahapurusa, Discourse on I Mahasangika, Mahayana, tvas, 61 I ; 361. the, ft. et seq ; its original meaning, 7 and Hinayana, 70 and ; ; spiritual and Bodhisatlife, 71 and ; Samkhya, 136. Mahayana-Abhisamaya Sutra, quoted, Mahay ana-Sangr aha fdstra, 354. 45. Mahayanism, (Mahayana Buddhism), defined, 10 n it genuine? and its Christian its 60 et seq. seven features, 62 et seq. ten essential features, 65 et et seq.; no nihilism, living faith, > the development 132. (self-consciousness). 106. Manovijnana (ego-consciousness), 67, 69, Masashige, Kusunoki, 213, ft, Maya, subjective ignorance, Merits, the accumulation of, ; and metempsychosis, 64 seq.; in its two phases, 76 135 ft.; Maudsley, H., quoted, 80. Max Mueller, quoted, 108 is and Sthiramati, 61 et seq. ; Maitreya, 272. Manjugri, ; 14 et seq.; ; and individualism, 282. Manas et seq. 15; misunderstood, 16 et seq.; critics, historically treated, a as et seq.; in 47. 199. ft,, 221. of, 247; 4 1 INDEX. 6 Middle path, Doctrine of the, 358 59, ; of Eight No's, 103. Milinda-Panha^ quoted, 203. Mitra, Rajendra, referred to, 329 ft. Monier Monier- Williams, refuted, 18 Nagarjuna, ft, 3 4, 8, 21, 60, 66, et seq. 95, 96, 168, 100, 103, 171, 173, 292, 297, 353- Nagasena and King Milinda, '<Na iti," 153. 102. Nanatva, (difference), 72 ft. Nidanas, the twelve, 36 et seq., 179, 182. Nirmanakaya, (Body of Transformation), 73, 257, 268. Nirvana, 19 and its non-Buddhist critics, 49 briefly ex; ; plained, 49 et seq. and and the surrender of ego, 50 and love, 51, 58; and pessimism, 52; ; ; Dharmakaya, 51; and ethics, 53; and Parinishpanna (knowledge), 94; what 33 ! et seq. is> ; not and Dharmakaya, 342 342 et seq. ; Mahayanistic, 341 the Mahayanistic ; absolute, 343 four forms ; of, conception 343 ; ; of, upadhic.esa, and Anupadhic.esa, 344 that has no abode, 345 Cor. 7, 3031, 346; as synonym of Dharmakaya, 846 344 i ; 332 nihilistic, ; ; , by Chandra ous phase, Kirti, 347 ; its four attributes, 348 ; its religi- and Emerson, 352; and samsara are and St. Paul, 352 and the Eight No s of one, 352 as the Middle the realisation of, 360 Nagarjuna, 358 349; ; ; ; ; Path, 362 Non-atman, ; ; comprehensively treated, 367 et seq. 37 et seq.; impermanence of in things, things, 41 et seq, 170; and 141, (see also "non-ego", "self, "soul", "ego"). Non-duality, the Dharma of, 106. Non-ego and Dharmakaya, 47 156. ; and the Ganges water, INDEX. No's, The 417 Eight, of Nagarjuna, 358. "Old man" and Atman, 165. Paramartha-satya (absolute truth), 91 et seq. Paramatman, Paramita, 3 145. ft. ; six, 68 ; ten, 321. Paratantra (relative knowledge), 67 Parikalpita (illusion), 67 ; ; explained, 89, explained, 88. Parinishpanna (perfect knowledge,), 67 Parivarta, (turning over), 19, 194 ; ; explained, 91. doctrine of, 283. Paul, Apostle, quoted, 48, 166, 260, 262. Pingalaka, Nagarjuna's commentator, quoted, 172. Prabhakari (third stage of Bodhisattvahood), 315. Prajna (and Bodhi), defined, 62 ft.; 82, 97, 119, 238, 360. Prakrti (Samkyan primordial Pramudita (first matter), 67 ft. stage of Bodhisattvahood), 313. Pranidhana, a Bodhisattva's, 307. Pratisamvids, the four, 325. Pratyayasamutpada, (Nidanas), 36 et seq. Pratyekabuddha, 278. Pratyekabuddha-yana, 9. Precepts, the ten moral, 70 Pudgala (ego), 42, 143 ft. ft. Punyaskandha, 199. Pure Lands, 269. Purusha (Samkyan soul), 67 ft. Purvanidhanabala, 237. significance, 22 et seq.; not revealed, 23; and its intellectual and emotional sides, 25 et 24 mystery, and intellect and feeling in, 77 and science, 26 seq. Religion, its ; ; ; ; INDEX. 41 8 78 philosophy, subjective, ; 81 et seq. not ; a philoso- phical system, 85. Rockhill's Life of Buddha, quoted, on Nirvana, 338 the Saddharma Pundarika, quoted, 260 ft., fn. 274, 277. Sadhumatt, (ninth stage of Bodhisattvahood), 325. Samata (sameness), 72 Sambodhi, ft. (see "Bodhi''). of Bliss), Sambhogakaya (Body 258 ghosha, ; its 65 six features, ft., 264 ; 73, 257 in ; Agva- mere subjective a existence, 266. Samkhya philosophy, and Yogacarya to, 146 ft. ; school, 67 ft referred ; on Nirvana, 340. Samvrtti-satya (conditional truth), 95 et seq. Samyukta Nikaya, quoted, 156, 185. Sanskaras, enumerated, 151 et seq. Schopenhauer, 181. Skandhas, the 32 five, 149. ft., Soul-substance, denied, 164. Sthavira, I ft. Sthiramati, on Mahayanism, 61 et seq.; Suchness, (see also Bhutatathata), 3 Buddhism, et 99 109; in history, seq. no; ; indefinable, in the 114; and ignorance, 117; ; on Bodhicitta, 299. the world, 113 in its Dharmakaya, 127; and karma, first 101 ; ; principle of conditioned, and the Bodhi, various modes, 125; and 181. stage of Bodhisattvahood), 318. Sudurjaya, (fifth Sukhavati sect, the, 4, Sumedha, the story of, 240. i 280. Surangama Sutra, quoted, 157. Suvarna Prabha Sutra, 253 ft. Svabhava, and non-ego, 170 et seq.; and emptiness, 175. INDEX. "Tat tvam ft. 136 asi," 47, 419 Tathagata-Garbha, 125, 145. Teleology, 86. 82. Tennyson, quoted, Tirthakas, 8. Tolstoi, quoted, in connection with karma, 207 Trikaya, Truth (trinity), 73, 242, 256, 275. and transcendental, (satya), conditional Udana, quoted, ft. 339 52, ft, 95. 341. Universe, a mind, 122. Upaya (expediency), 298 261 64, ft.; its meaning explained, ft Upayajna, 320. ^ Vaigaradyas (convictions), the four, 327 ft. Vairocana, 219. Vasubandhu, 87, 153; his Abhidharmakofa referred to, On the Completion of Karma, on Mahayana, 66 37 The quoted, 194 Distinguishing of the Mean, quoted, on Nirvana, 357, 359, 360. on 195 llodhicitta, 303 , ; ; ; ; ; Vasumitra, on Various Schools of Buddhism, I Vedanta philosophy, and the Mahayanism, 108 vana, 340-; on Atman, 144. Vicesacinta-brahma-Pariprccha Sutra, 353. Victory, the hymn of, 336. Vijnana, and atman, 39. Vijnanamatra, (nothing but ideas), 70. Vijnanamatra fastra, 265 ft., 343. Vimala (second stage of Bodhisattvahood), 315. Vimalakirti, 106, 350, 366. Visuddhi Magga, quoted, 339, 348 ft. ft. ft.; on Nir- INDEX. 42O Waddell, refuted, 21 et seq. Whitman, Walt, quoted, 155 ft., 197. Wilson, Dr. G. R., quoted, 201. Yoga philosophy, The, on Nirvana, 340. Yogacarya school, Yogavasistka } 62, 65, 87, 92, 95. a vedantic book, quoted, 167. > ', ro YB 70510 LIBRARY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN THIS BOOK IS DEPT. 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