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NIRVANA IN NORTHERN BUDDHIST SCHOOLS remainder of clinging. It was based on an unidentified sEtra saying ‘As body (kAya), faculty (indriya) and intellect (buddhi) are not yet extinct, it is called nirvana element with a remainder of clinging’. 49 According to the MahAvibhALAUAstra, these three were already mentioned in the JñAnaprasthAna with different names: body (kAya) refers to primary elements and secondary matter, faculty (indriya) refers to the five faculties and intellect (buddhi) refers to the mental series. Nirvana with and without a remainder of clinging was thus explained here as follows: The complete cessation of all fetters (saNyojana) is obtained while the series of body, faculty and intellect are not yet extinct. That is why it is called nirvana with a remainder of clinging. 50 The complete cessation of all fetters (saNyojana) is obtained when the series of body, faculty and intellect, or the material body, the mind and mental states, have already become extinct. That is why it is called nirvana element without a remainder of clinging. 51 In this explanation, what was not extinct was not vitality (Ayu), or technically life faculty ( jCvitendriya) and the homogeneous character of the group (nikAyasabhAga), but the material body, the five faculties and mental series, which together can explain the continuation of the cognitive process. In this respect, this explanation comes close to the old one in the Itivuttaka. 52 Although the MahAvibhALAUAstra did not mention whose opinion it was, this clarification seems to be very close to the position taken by the Theravadins and, possibly, by their northern equivalent, roughly called the Vibhajyavadins. The MahAvibhALAUAstra criticises this view in an abhidharmic way. It asks, ‘Can anyone admit that a saint (arahant) resides neither in nirvana with a remainder of clinging nor in nirvana without a remainder of clinging?’ and answers, ‘It is impossible by reasoning, yet it is possible from the definitions given here’. 53 According to this view, it is nirvana with a remainder of clinging when all three things, body (kAya), faculty (indriya) and intellect (buddhi), are present, whereas it is nirvana without a remainder of clinging when one of three things is not present. There could be three possible cases that cannot be determined from this definition of whether a saint is in nirvana with a remainder of clinging or in nirvana without a remainder of clinging: [1] A saint who is born in the world of formlessness. He does not reside in nirvana with a remainder of clinging, since he cannot have a material body. As his mind is active, he does not reside in nirvana without a remainder of clinging. [2] A saint who is born in the world of form and has entered the absorption of extinction (nirodhasamApatti). He does not reside in nirvana with a remainder 83
THE DOCTRINAL DEVELOPMENT OF NIRVANA of clinging since his mind is not active. As he has a material body, he does not reside in nirvana without a remainder of clinging. [3] A saint who is born in the world of desire but lacks his faculty. He does not reside in nirvana with a remainder of clinging, since he cannot have the five faculties. As he has a material body he does not reside in nirvana without a remainder of clinging. 54 This kind of definitional conflict frequently occurs in the abhidharma works and it sometimes becomes a kind of driving force for complex doctrinal development. A similar problem occurs when the support for the mental series is discussed. Due to the definition of the world of formlessness (ArEpyadhAtu), body (kAya), which was said to be the support of the mental series (cittasaNtAna) of living beings in the world of form, cannot exist in the world of formlessness. On this basis, the Sarvastivadins insisted that the support of living beings in the world of formlessness was life faculty ( jCvitendriya), homogeneous character of the group (nikAyasabhAga) and similar kinds of dharmas not associated with the mind (cittaviprayuktasaNskAra). 55 We do not know whether the definitional problem was taken seriously by other Buddhist schools or not, yet this seems to be enough for the Sarvastivada-Vaibhalikas to dismiss the old explanation by the five faculties and to give their total support to the new explanation by the existence of vitality (Ayu). The author of the MahAvibhALAUAstra suggested his own opinion 56 that whether nirvana was with or without a remainder of clinging was determined solely by the existence of vitality (Ayu): There is an opinion. The text should be written as follows: what is nirvana with a remainder of clinging? The complete cessation of all fetters (saNyojana) is obtained ( prApta), possessed ( pratilabdha), touched (spKLMa), and realised (sAkLAtkKta) by an arahant while his vitality (Ayus) alone exists. What is nirvana without a remainder of clinging? An arahant whose vitality has already come to an end destroys all fetters completely. 57 Although it was not presented as a formal opinion of the Sarvastivada- Vaibhalikas, it seems to be presented as a solution to the above mentioned definitional problem. While there still was some trace of the Itivuttaka clarification left in the JñAnaprasthAna explanation of the two nirvana theory, there was no trace left in this newly proposed solution. Despite the above modification, this newly proposed opinion continued to apply such terms as ‘obtained’ ( prApta) and ‘possessed’ ( pratilabdha) only to nirvana with a remainder of clinging (sopadhiUeLanirvAOadhAtu), as in the case of the JñAnaprasthAna. The question arose why these terms were not applied to nirvana without a remainder of clinging (nirupadhiUeLanirvAOadhAtu). The following two answers were given in the MahAvibhALAUAstra: 84
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METAPHOR AND LITERALISM IN BUDDHISM
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TEACHING BUDDHISM IN THE WEST Edite
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METAPHOR AND LITERALISM IN BUDDHISM
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FOR DONGJE MY ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE D
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CONTENTS List of figures and tables
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PREFACE I am glad to be able to tha
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ABBREVIATIONS The abbreviations for
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ABBREVIATIONS RV Rgveda. SA SaNyukt
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INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION In the Ab
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INTRODUCTION to reach it was descri
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INTRODUCTION two nirvana theory in
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NIRVANA AND ITS REFERENCE Part 1 TH
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NIRVANA AND ITS REFERENCE 1 NIRVANA
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NIRVANA AND ITS REFERENCE early Bud
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NIRVANA AND ITS REFERENCE original
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THE TWO NIRVANA THEORY IN THE EARLY
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Page 50 and 51: THE TWO NIRVANA THEORY IN THE EARLY
Page 52 and 53: THE TWO NIRVANA THEORY IN THE EARLY
Page 54 and 55: DEVELOPMENTS OF THE TWO NIRVANA THE
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Page 122 and 123: Table 5.4 Summary of the doctrinal
Page 124 and 125: CONCLUSION The term anAgAmin was of
Page 126 and 127: CONCLUSION passion, hatred and delu
Page 128 and 129: CONCLUSION The Sautrantikas probabl
Page 130 and 131: SELECTED SOURCES FOR THE NIRVANA CO
Page 144 and 145: NOTES Indians; and also because we
Page 146 and 147: NOTES 13 Huzita (1988: 8). 14 La Va
Page 148 and 149: NOTES 70 See Dutt (1960: 252-71), L
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NOTES 146 Akanuma (1929: 126). 147
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NOTES 39 yaP sAsravair dharmair vis
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NOTES 5 Harvey (1990: 66-7). 6 DN I
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NOTES 65 Tr. Norman (1992: 120): ac
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NOTES 132 Bareau (1955: 285). 133 B
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NOTES 15 Life faculty is one of the
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NOTES 77 Akb-h pp. 67-8. 78 Accordi
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NOTES 149 SA (TD2 57c8), SN IV 109.
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NOTES 6 SN IV 251-2. 7 The Chinese
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NOTES (1969: 378-82), which was mad
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BIBLIOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY PRIMARY S
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BIBLIOGRAPHY SECONDARY SOURCES Adik
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Pasadika, Bhikkhu (198
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faculty see indriya fetters see saN
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