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

THE DOCTRINAL DEVELOPMENT OF NIRVANA
3
DEVELOPMENTS OF THE TWO
NIRVANA THEORY
The JñAnaprasthAna, the last book of the Sarvastivada abhidharma, survives
only in a Chinese translation and is the only text in both Northern and
Southern abhidharmic traditions where the two nirvana theory was explained
from the abhidharmic point of view. In fact we cannot find any explanation
of the two nirvana theory in the seven books of the Pali abhidhamma. Most
explanations we have are from their exegetical works.
Before going into these explanations on nirvana with and without a
remainder of clinging, we need briefly to survey how nirvana has been understood
from the perspectives of the later systematisations both of the Pali
abhidhamma and of the Sarvastivadin’s abhidharma works.
As to the origin of the abhidharma literature, some Japanese scholars
have suggested that it was to be found in dialogues concerning the doctrine
(abhidharmakathA), or monastic discussions in catechetical style characterised
by an exchange of questions and interpretative answers intended to
clarify complex or obscure points of doctrine. 1 But most Western scholars
agree that it originated from lists (mAtKkA) of all topics of the Buddha’s
teaching arranged according to both numerical and qualitative criteria. 2
MAtKkA are comprehensive lists to collect and preserve doctrinal concepts
used in the nikAyas. An early list of this kind could be the SaWgCtisuttanta 3 of
the DCghanikAya in Pali or the SaNgCtisEtra 4 of the DCrghAgama in Chinese.
The first of the seven Chinese abhidharma books, the SaNgCtiparyAyaUAstra,
is in fact a commentary on this text. 5
Since they articulate doctrines through classifications and definitions, there
is no place for metaphorical or contextual explanations in this genre. They
prefer clear simple concepts to the complex ambiguities of metaphor. Thus
nirvana, which was used in the metaphorical sense of ‘blowing out’ within
the early canon, became a technical term within the abhidhamma: a term to
be rigorously defined and classified.
Within the abhidhamma works, thus, problems tend to occur when the
definition of a dharma conflicts with the definition of another dharma or
when the classification of a dharma overlaps with the classification of another
36