Buddhist Philosophy: A Historical Analysis

Preface

Preface Buddhism is now more than two thousand five hundred years old. Conforming to the words of its founder, Siddhartha Gautama, that "everything in this world is impermanent," his teachings underwent transformation while catering to the needs and religious aspirations of his followers, who represent a large segment of humanity spread out over a major part of the earth's surface. In this transformation, while Buddhism contributed much to the various religious and philosophical traditions with which it came into contact, it also assimilated many of these non-Buddhist doctrines. It is for this reason that a completely satisfactory outline of Buddhist philosophy becomes an impossibility. Realizing this fact, I have devoted the present work to an examination of the original form of Buddhism and a few later schools which I consider basic to all the different varieties of Buddhist thought. The emphasis in this book is on the philosophical outlook of early Buddhism. Although there has been a long-drawn-out controversy over the primitive core of Buddhism, and in spite of the fact that attempts to establish it are now considered by many to be hopelessly futile, I think it is worthwhile to try. Previous attempts to determine the original form of Buddhism were based on the assumption that the early discourses attributed to the Buddha contain a lot of "monkish jargon" and, therefore, the original form can be known only after leaving out such elements. This led to disastrous results, as is evident from the later works of Mrs. C. A. F. Rhys Davids, for such decisions were based more on prejudice than on scientific attitude. Avoiding this assumption, I have undertaken the task of examining the entire content of the early discourses, eliminating nothing. Doubts have been raised regarding the authenticity of the Pali Nikayas, especially because they were preserved by the Theravada sect of Buddhism and hence were taken to represent the ideas of that Xl school. But a comparative study of the Pali Nikayas and the Chinese Agamas shows that the Pali Nikayas do not represent the Theravada standpoint. In fact, there is nothing in the Nikayas that can be called Theravada. The Nikayas and the Agamas agree so well with regard to the doctrines they embody, and are so different from the Abhidharma Pitakas of the various schools, that one can be very optimistic about the attempt to determine the nature of pre-Abhidharma Buddhism. The next question to be examined is, What is the antiquity of the discourses included in the Pali Nikayas and the Chinese Agamas? There is no doubt that they represent the earliest sources for the study of Buddhism. One ofthe earliest references (other than the Buddhist texts themselves) to the existence of some of the discourses is the Bhabra Edict of King Asoka (third century B.C.) which names seven texts from the early discourses that have now been identified. The Theravada historical records, such as the Cullavagga of the Vinaya Pitaka and chronicles like DipavalJ1sa and Mahtival1lsa, testify to the authenticity and antiquity ofthe discourses. Finally, the Mahayanists themselves agree that the discourses (included in the Agamas) were preached first by the Buddha because his immediate disciples could not understand anything else (see, for example, Saddharmapul1fJarlkasiitra and AvatalJ1saka-siitra). It is generally agreed that the major schools of Abhidharma had taken definite form by the third century B.C. The Abhidharma is considered a systematization of the teachings of the discourses, and therefore it could be maintained that the discourses were finalized at least a century before the systematization accomplished by these Abhidharma schools. Thus the collection and arrangement of the various discourses took place during the first hundred and fifty years after the passing away of the Buddha, and it was probably the main purpose ofthe second Council held during the time ofKing KaHisoka. It is because the Siitra Pi!aka was completed so early that all the Abhidharma schools possessed the same Siitra Pitaka, but different Abhidharma Pitakas. In chapter 8 of the present work the origin and development of the Abhidharma and Mahayana schools have been traced back to the time of the Buddha himself. Although their origins can be traced back to such an early period, it took some time for these traditions to crystallize into major schools. In any case, the compilation of the texts of the Abhidharma Pitaka and the early Mahayana sutras was Xll PREFACE subsequent to the...