Metaphor and Literalism in Buddhism: The ... - misterdanger.net

INTRODUCTION
two nirvana theory in the Visuddhimagga back to the Nettippakarana and
the PeMakopadesa in the Southern tradition.
Chapter 4 is mainly about the state of the TathAgata after death, especially
against the claim of such scholars as F. Otto Schrader 26 and Peter Harvey 27
that the allegedly common Indian view was already presupposed in the early
canon when the metaphor of a fire extinguished 28 was used to explain what
happens to an enlightened person after death. In this chapter, I deal with
this problem by examining Buddhist methodology seen in the early canon
by the name of yoniso manasikAra, by clarifying the meaning of the metaphor
of a fire extinguished in the context of Vacchagotta’s unanswered questions
and by exploring later developments in the Theravada tradition seen in the
SammohavinodanC (VibhaWga commentary), the TheragAthA-aMMhakathA and
the Visuddhimagga. I also discuss the Theravadin’s unique argument, the
‘singularity’ of the unconditioned (asaNskKta) that is nirvana, and its implications,
under the influence of the Buddhist theory of momentariness.
Chapter 5 is devoted to the doctrinal development of the nirvana concept
and the two nirvana theory in Northern Buddhist schools. It explores the
later development of the two nirvana theory seen in the MahAvibhALAUAstra,
reconstructs the Sautrantika concept of nirvana in the AbhidharmakoUabhALya
and deals with ontological issues surrounding Anuruddha’s simile seen
in the AbhidharmakoUabhALya and the NyAyAnusAraUAstra. Although the
AbhidharmakoUabhALya presents both the Sarvastivadin and the Sautrantika
opinion, its comment is mainly in favour of the Sautrantika point of view.
Thus the orthodox Sarvastivadin’s position should be considered and
defended from Sawghabhadra’s NyAyAnusAraUAstra. For the two Chinese
treatises, the MahAvibhALAUAstra and the NyAyAnusAraUAstra, Louis de La
Vallée Poussin did indispensable work: he selected the passages related to
nirvana in those two and the AbhidharmakoUabhALya and translated them
into French. My translation of these texts depends largely on his works.
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