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

THE DOCTRINAL DEVELOPMENT OF NIRVANA
Apart from the above mentioned PArAyaOa stanza, this exegesis also quoted
a stanza from the KhuddakapAMha saying ‘the steadfast are extinguished like
this lamp’. 84 Like Anuruddha’s stanza, it did not mention the cause of this
lamp’s going out. It could go out either through the power of the wind, as in
the PArAyana stanza, or through the lack of fuel such as oil and wick, as in
the dialogue between the Buddha and Vacchagotta. Its commentary simply
said, ‘It seems, one lamp among those that had been lit to honor the city
deities on that occasion, actually went out, and it was with reference to that
that he said “like this lamp”.’ 85
The PArAyana stanza was quoted, or could be added, at the end of the
explanation in which the going out of a lamp was initially explained through
lack of oil and wick. Whether a fire goes out through the power of the wind
or through the lack of fuel, both cases can explain what happens when a fire
goes out, yet their implications for ontology could be, as seen above, 86 somewhat
different.
If the Theravadins used this stanza, disregarding their dissimilarity, there
must be a reason why they did so: they probably wanted to open the possibility
of interpreting nirvana not as mere non-existence. This could be closely
related to the doctrinal development of nirvana within the Theravada
abhidhamma together with an attempt to fill the silence of the Buddha.
Nirvana and space in the Pali abhidhamma
In Chapter 3, in the section titled ‘The Pali abhidhamma works’, we saw that
the word nirvana was hardly mentioned in the Pali abhidhamma and the
word unconditioned (asaWkhata) was used instead. Within this abhidhamma,
nirvana was established as the one and only unconditioned. 87 It also is said
to be the only thing that does not belong to the five aggregates (skandha), 88
yet belongs both to the sphere of mental data base (dhammAyatana) in
the twelve spheres classification 89 and to the element of mental data base
(dhammadhAtu) in the eighteen elements classification. 90
Apart from the number of unconditioned things, 91 there was no conflict
between the Theravada abhidhamma and the Sarvastivada abhidharma. 92
This unusual conformity suggests that the underlying position on nirvana
may have been established at the early stage of the abhidharma literature
before the separation of the Sarvastivadins and the Vibhajyavadins. 93 In
fact, it seems to be the starting point of the extensive and convoluted doctrinal
developments on nirvana in Buddhist schools, since there clearly is a problem
here.
This puzzling classification of nirvana seems to be established along
with the two nirvana theory seen in Chapter 2. Nirvana cannot be classed
under the five aggregates since nirvana without a remainder of clinging
(anupAdisesanibbAna-dhAtu) was the cessation of the aggregates. 94 By contrast,
nirvana can be classified under mental data base (dharma) both in the
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