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NIRVANA IN THE THERAVf DA BUDDHIST TRADITION possible to say that all Theravadins are Vibhajyavadins but not necessarily vice versa. The Vibhajyavadins at least share the same ideology against the Sarvastivadins who insisted on the existence of all dharmas in the three time periods. As their name suggests, they made a distinction between dharmas and then said that some exist while some do not. The best description to explain their position is in the AbhidharmakoUabhALya: Those who affirm the existence of past, future and present are regarded as the Sarvastivadins. Those who affirm the existence of the present and a part of the past, namely the existence of action that has not given forth its result, and the non-existence of the future and a part of the past, namely the non-existence of action that has given forth its result, are regarded as the Vibhajyavadin. 134 This difference, according to the Theravada traditions, could have played a major role in the great separation during the period of King Ashoka. 135 For the Vibhajyavadin all dharmas will eventually pass into non-existence, since existing past action, when it has produced its result, will become nonexistent. That is to say, there is no need for nirvana to exist in the three time periods to works as a deterrent, or an antidote (pratipakLa), as for the Sarvastivadins seen above. 136 The name Vibhajyavadins ( !) in the MahAvibhALAUAstra, the extensive commentary on the last book of the Chinese abhidharma, the JñAnaprasthAna, is a bit obscure. It is not yet clear whether this name refers to a historical school or a generic term for their methodology. The latter possibility seems to be unlikely since a different term was used in this treatise: an analytic interpretation ( ). In the MahAvibhALAUAstra, detailed, separate, analytic, progressive methodologies were sometimes contrasted with brief, comprehensive, non-analytic, simultaneous methodologies. 137 What cannot be ignored is the fact that the fen-bie-lun-zhe ( !), which is the Chinese word for the Vibhajyavadins, and was used frequently in the MahAvibhALAUAstra, was actually different form the translation of the word Vibhajyavadin ( !, fen-bie-shuo-bu) appearing in Xuan-zang’s translation of the AbhidharmakoUabhALya. He translated both treatises and the Chinese word applied to the Vibhajyavadin in the AbhidharmakoUabhALya was not the fen-bie-lun-zhe but the fen-bie-shuo-bu. 138 In fact, the latter term appeared only once in the MahAvibhALAUAstra, where the nature of the three karmas, bodily, verbal and conscious actions, is discussed. 139 While the Sautrantikas insisted that they are by nature intention (cetanA), the Vibhajyavadin maintained that the nature of karmas is passion, hatred and delusion. This seems to suggest that the term Vibhajyavadin could be used in a narrow sense to refer to an early historical school who contested against the Sarvastivadins, while the term could be used in a broad sense to refer to schools including the Vibhajyavadin that are 71
THE DOCTRINAL DEVELOPMENT OF NIRVANA against the existence of all dharmas in the three time periods through their distinctive methodology, especially that of making distinctions between dharmas. This could be the reason why doctrines attributed to the Vibhajyavadins are agreed to by many ancient schools, such as the Mahasawghikas and the Mahcuasakas, yet none of them agree with the Sarvastivadins. 140 The doctrines attributed to the Vibhajyavadins, especially concerning the unconditioned things, overlapped extensively with the Mahasawghika list of unconditioned things. They accepted dependent origination ( pratCtyasamutpAda), 141 the way (mArga), 142 and the characteristic of conditioned things (svalakLaOa), 143 together with the extinction through knowledge (pratisaNkhyAnirodha) and extinction without knowledge (apratisaNkhyAnirodha). 144 In the MahAvibhALAUAstra, the difference between the Sarvastivadins, the Sautrantikas and the Vibhajyavadins on the last three dharmas was explained as follows: 145 This is in order to refute other systems and to clarify the correct opinion [of the Vaibhalikas]. In other words, one wrong view, that of the Darlmantikas, holds that extinction through knowledge (pratisaNkhyAnirodha), extinction without knowledge (apratisaNkhyAnirodha), and extinction as impermanence (anityatAnirodha) 146 are not real existents (dravya). In order to refute this opinion the author makes clear that all three extinctions are real existents. Another wrong view, that of the Vibhajyavadins, holds that all three extinctions are the unconditioned (asaNskKta). In order to refute this opinion the author makes clear that while the first two are unconditioned things (asaNskKta), the last, extinction as impermanence, is a conditioned thing (saNskKta). Here, the Vaibhalika was the name given to a group of the Sarvastivadins who were involved in composing and maintaining this vast treatise, the MahAvibhALAUAstra. The difference between the Darlmantikas and the Sautrantikas according to the Chinese tradition was chronological, the earlier term Darlmantikas being replaced by the term Sautrantikas in the later period. 147 This view is, however, contested by the view that they simply represent different perspectives from which the same group can be seen: the Darlmantikas has a negative connotation and is used by opponents, such as the Kaumcra Sarvastivadins, to suggest the group’s reliance upon the invalid authority of conventional examples; the term Sautrantikas has a positive connotation and is used by the group itself to refer to its own views. 148 What could be the reason why many Buddhist schools accepted a new concept, extinction through knowledge (pratisaNkhyAnirodha)? The doctrinal development of the Buddhist theory of momentariness seems to be the reason 72
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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 38 and 39: THE TWO NIRVANA THEORY IN THE EARLY
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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
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SELECTED SOURCES FOR THE NIRVANA CO
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NOTES Indians; and also because we
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NOTES 13 Huzita (1988: 8). 14 La Va
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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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