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OBJECT INSTANCES [0] - TOPICS - AUTHORS - BOOKS - CHAPTERS - CLASSES - SEE ALSO - SIMILAR TITLES

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AUTH

BOOKS
Infinite_Library
Practical_Ethics_and_Profound_Emptiness__A_Commentary_on_Nagarjuna's_Precious_Garland
The_Fundamental_Wisdom_of_the_Middle_Way__Ngrjuna's_Mlamadhyamakakrik

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IN CHAPTERS CLASSNAME

IN CHAPTERS TEXT
1.02_-_Taras_Tantra
2.05_-_Apotheosis
2.14_-_The_Unpacking_of_God
BOOK_I._--_PART_I._COSMIC_EVOLUTION
Book_of_Imaginary_Beings_(text)
Diamond_Sutra_1

PRIMARY CLASS

author
SIMILAR TITLES
Nagarjuna
Practical Ethics and Profound Emptiness A Commentary on Nagarjuna's Precious Garland

DEFINITIONS


TERMS STARTING WITH

Nagarjuna (Sanskrit) Nāgārjuna A Buddhist arhat or sage generally recognized in Northern Buddhism as a bodhisattva-nirmanakaya. After his conversion to Buddhism, he went to China, and according to legend converted the whole country to Buddhism. He was famous for his dialectical subtlety in metaphysical argument, and was the first teacher of the Amitabha doctrine. He was one of the most prominent representatives and a founder of the esoteric Mahayana system. The source of his deeper teachings is undoubtedly the secret school of adepts; and his esoteric doctrine is one with esoteric theosophy. He was called the Dragon-Tree on account of his esoteric wisdom; and was referred to as one of the four suns which illumine the world.


TERMS ANYWHERE

Abhidharmika. (P. ABHIDHAMMIKA; T. chos mngon pa ba; C. apidamo dalunshi/duifa zhushi; J. abidatsuma daironshi/taiho shashi; K. abidalma taeronsa/taebop chesa 阿毘達磨大論師/對法諸師). In Sanskrit, "specialist in ABHIDHARMA"; refers to exegetes and commentators specializing in the texts and teachings of the ABHIDHARMAPItAKA. In MAHAYANA sources, Abhidharmika may also refer more generically to "scholars," not necessarily only to specialists in abhidharma. In Chinese Buddhism, for example, the eminent Indian scholiasts AsVAGHOsA, NAGARJUNA, ARYADEVA, and KumAralAta are said to be the four great Abhidharmikas of the MahAyAna tradition. See also ABHIDHAMMIKA.

abhyudaya. (T. mngon par mtho ba; C. shengsheng; J. shosho; K. sŭngsaeng 勝生). In Sanskrit, lit. "rising"; viz., a "superior rebirth." In MAHAYANA texts like NAGARJUNA's RATNAVALĪ, the term is typically used to refer to "rising" to a higher rebirth in the realms of the divinities (DEVA) or human beings (MANUsYA); often paired with NIḤsREYASA, a term for NIRVAnA that literally means "of which there is nothing finer."

Acintyastava. (T. Bsam gyis mi khyab par bstod pa). In Sanskrit, "In Praise of the Inconceivable One"; an Indian philosophical work by the MADHYAMAKA master NAGARJUNA written in the form of a praise for the Buddha. In the Tibetan tradition, there are a large number of such praises (called STAVAKAYA) in contrast to the set of philosophical texts (called YUKTIKAYA) attributed to NAgArjuna. Among these praise works, the Acintyastava, LOKATĪTASTAVA, NIRAUPAMYASTAVA, and PARAMARTHASTAVA are extant in Sanskrit and are generally accepted to be his work; these four works together are known as the CATUḤSTAVA. It is less certain that he is the author of the DHARMADHATUSTAVA or DHARMADHATUSTOTRA ("Hymn to the Dharma Realm") of which only fragments are extant in the original Sanskrit. The Acintyastava contains fifty-nine stanzas, many of which are addressed to the Buddha. The first section provides a detailed discussion of why dependently originated phenomena are empty of intrinsic nature (NIḤSVABHAVA); this section has clear parallels to the MuLAMADHYAMAKAKARIKA. The forty-fifth verse makes reference to the term PARATANTRA, leading some scholars to believe that NAgArjuna was familiar with the LAnKAVATARASuTRA. The second section describes wisdom (JNANA); the third section sets forth the qualities of the true dharma (SADDHARMA); the fourth and final section extols the Buddha as the best of teachers (sASTṚ).

AkutobhayA. (T. Ga las 'jigs med). In Sanskrit, "Fearless," the abbreviated title of the Mulamadhyamakavṛtti-akutobhayA, a commentary on NAGARJUNA's MuLAMADHYAMAKAKARIKA. In Tibet, the work has traditionally been attributed to NAgArjuna himself, but scholars doubt that he is the author of this commentary on his own work, in part because the commentary cites the CATUḤsATAKA of ARYADEVA, who was NAgArjuna's disciple. In places, the work is identical to the commentary of BUDDHAPALITA. Regardless of the authorship, the work is an important commentary on NAgArjuna's most famous work. In China, the commentary of Qingmu (*Pingala?), an influential work in the SAN LUN ZONG, is closely related to the AkutobhayA.

AmarAvatī. (T. 'Chi med ldan). In Sanskrit, "Immortal"; is the modern name for DhAnyakataka or Dharanikota, the site of a monastic community associated with the MAHASAMGHIKA school, located in eastern Andhra Pradesh. The site is best known for its large main STuPA, started at the time of AsOKA (third century BCE), which, by the second century CE, was the largest monument in India. It is thought to have been some 140 feet in diameter and upwards of 100 feet tall, and decorated with bas-reliefs. The stupa is mentioned in numerous accounts, including that by the Chinese pilgrim XUANZANG. AmarAvatī (as DhAnyakataka) reached its historical zenith as the southern capital of the later SAtavAhana [alt. sAtavAhana] dynasty that ended in 227 CE. The last inscription found at the site is dated to the eleventh century, and when first excavated at the end of the eighteenth century by the British, the stupa had long been reduced to a large mound of earth. Over the following centuries, it has been the focus of repeated archaeological excavations that yielded many important finds, making it one of the best researched Buddhist sites of ancient India. The site is important in Tibetan Buddhism because the Buddha is said to have taught the KALACAKRATANTRA at DhAnyakataka. See also NAGARJUNAKOndA.

Aryadeva. (T. 'Phags pa lha; C. Tipo; J. Daiba; K. Cheba 提婆). While traditional sources are often ambiguous, scholars have identified two Aryadevas. The first Aryadeva (c. 170-270 CE) was an important Indian philosopher, proponent of MADHYAMAKA philosophy, and a direct disciple of the Madhyamaka master NAGARJUNA. According to traditional accounts, he was born to a royal family in Sri Lanka. Renouncing the throne at the time of his maturity, he instead sought monastic ordination and met NAgArjuna at PAtALIPUTRA. After his teacher's death, Aryadeva became active at the monastic university of NALANDA, where he is said to have debated and defeated numerous brahmanic adherents, eventually converting them to Buddhism. He is the author of the influential work CATUḤsATAKA ("The Four Hundred"). He is also said to be the author of the *sATAsASTRA (C. BAI LUN), or "The Hundred Treatise," counted as one of the "three treatises" of the SAN LUN ZONG of Chinese Buddhism, together with the Zhong lun ("Middle Treatise," i.e., MuLAMADHYAMAKAKARIKA) and SHI'ERMEN LUN ("Twelve [Chapter] Treatise"), both attributed to NAgArjuna. The *satasAstra is not extant in Sanskrit or Tibetan, but is preserved only in Chinese. ¶ The second Aryadeva [alt. AryadevapAda; d.u.] trained in yogic practices under the tantric master NAgArjuna at NAlandA. In the Tibetan tradition, this Aryadeva is remembered for his great tantric accomplishments, and is counted among the eighty-four MAHASIDDHAs under the name Karnari or Kanheri. His important tantric works include the CaryAmelapakapradīpa ("Lamp that Integrates the Practices") and Cittavisuddhiprakarana [alt. CittAvaranavisuddhiprakarana] ("Explanation of Mental Purity").

Arya. (P. ariya; T. 'phags pa; C. sheng; J. sho; K. song 聖). In Sanskrit, "noble" or "superior." A term appropriated by the Buddhists from earlier Indian culture to refer to its saints and used technically to denote a person who has directly perceived reality and has become a "noble one." In the fourfold path structure of the mainstream schools, an Arya is a person who has achieved at least the first level of sanctity, that of stream-enterer (SROTAAPANNA), or above. In the fivefold path system, an Arya is one who has achieved at least the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA), or above. The SARVASTIVADA (e.g., ABHIDHARMAKOsABHAsYA) and THERAVADA (e.g., VISUDDHIMAGGA) schools of mainstream Buddhism both recognize seven types of noble ones (Arya, P. ariya). In e.g., the VISUDDHIMAGGA, these are listed in order of their intellectual superiority as (1) follower of faith (P. saddhAnusAri; S. sRADDHANUSARIN); (2) follower of the dharma (P. dhammAnusAri; S. DHARMANUSARIN); (3) one who is freed by faith (P. saddhAvimutta; S. sRADDHAVIMUKTA); (4) one who has formed right view (P. ditthippatta; S. DṚstIPRAPTA), by developing both faith and knowledge; (5) one who has bodily testimony (P. kAyasakkhi; S. KAYASAKsIN), viz., through the temporary suspension of mentality in the equipoise of cessation (NIRODHASAMAPATTI); (6) one who is freed by wisdom (P. paNNAvimutta; S. PRAJNAVIMUKTA), by freeing oneself through analysis; and (7) one who is freed both ways (P. ubhatobhAgavimutta; S. UBHAYATOBHAGAVIMUKTA), by freeing oneself through both meditative absorption (P. jhAna; S. DHYANA) and wisdom (P. paNNA; S. PRAJNA). In the AbhidharmakosabhAsya, the seven types of Arya beings are presented in a slightly different manner, together with the list of eight noble persons (ARYAPUDGALA) based on candidates for (pratipannika) and those who have reached the result of (phalastha) stream-enterer (srotaApanna), once-returner (SAKṚDAGAMIN), nonreturner (ANAGAMIN), and ARHAT; these are again further expanded into a list of twenty members of the Arya VIMsATIPRABHEDASAMGHA and in MahAyAna explanations into forty-eight or more ARYABODHISATTVAs. The Chinese character sheng, used to render this term in East Asia, has a long indigenous history and several local meanings; see, for example, the Japanese vernacular equivalent HIJIRI. It is also the name of one of two Indian esoteric GUHYASAMAJATANTRA traditions, receiving its name from Arya NAgArjuna, the author of the PANCAKRAMA.

Asanga. (T. Thogs med; C. Wuzhao; J. Mujaku; K. Much'ak 無著) (c. 320-c. 390 CE). a.k.a. Arya Asanga, Indian scholar who is considered to be a founder of the YOGACARA school of MAHAYANA Buddhism. In the Tibetan tradition, he is counted as one of the "six ornaments of JAMBUDVĪPA" ('dzam gling rgyan drug), together with VASUBANDHU, NAGARJUNA and ARYADEVA, and DIGNAGA and DHARMAKĪRTI. Born into a brAhmana family in Purusapura (modern-day Peshawar, Pakistan), Asanga originally studied under SARVASTIVADA (possibly MAHĪsASAKA) teachers but converted to the MahAyAna later in life. His younger brother was the important exegete Vasubandhu; it is said that he was converted to the MahAyAna by Asanga. According to traditional accounts, Asanga spent twelve years in meditation retreat, after which he received a vision of the future buddha MAITREYA. He visited Maitreya's abode in TUsITA heaven, where the bodhisattva instructed him in MahAyAna and especially YogAcAra doctrine. Some of these teachings were collected under the name MaitreyanAtha, and the Buddhist tradition generally regards them as revealed by Asanga through the power of the future buddha. Some modern scholars, however, have posited the existence of a historical figure named MAITREYANATHA or simply Maitreya. Asanga is therefore associated with what are known as the "five treatises of MaitreyanAtha" (the ABHISAMAYALAMKARA, the DHARMADHARMATAVIBHAGA, the MADHYANTAVIBHAGA, the MAHAYANASuTRALAMKARA, and the RATNAGOTRAVIBHAGA). Asanga was a prolific author, composing commentaries on the SAMDHINIRMOCANASuTRA and the VAJRACCHEDIKAPRAJNAPARAMITASuTRA. Among his independent treatises, three are particularly important. The ABHIDHARMASAMUCCAYA sets forth the categories of the ABHIDHARMA from a YogAcAra perspective. The MAHAYANASAMGRAHA is a detailed exposition of YogAcAra doctrine, setting forth such topics as the ALAYAVIJNANA and the TRISVABHAVA as well as the constituents of the path. His largest work is the compendium entitled YOGACARABHuMIsASTRA. Two of its sections, the sRAVAKABHuMI and the BODHISATTVABHuMI, circulated as independent works, with the former important for its exposition of the practice of DHYANA and the latter for its exposition of the bodhisattva's practice of the six PARAMITA; the chapter on sĪLA is particularly influential. These texts have had a lasting and profound impact on the development of Buddhism, especially in India, Tibet, and East Asia. Among the great figures in the history of Indian Buddhism, Asanga is rare for the breadth of his interests and influence, making significant contributions to philosophy (as the founder of YogAcAra), playing a key role in TATHAGATAGARBHA thought (through the RatnagotravibhAga), and providing significant expositions of Buddhist practice (in the YogAcArabhumi).

astAnta. (T. mtha' brgyad; C. babu; J. happu; K. p'albul 八不). In Sanskrit, "eight extremes," an important term in the MADHYAMAKA school, referring to eight qualities of which all phenomena are said to be empty (see suNYATA). The eight (in four pairs) are cessation and production, annihilation and permanence, coming and going, and difference and sameness. The locus classicus for the list is the opening passage of NAGARJUNA's MuLAMADHYAMAKAKARIKA, which reads, "Homage to the perfect Buddha, best of teachers, who taught that what is dependently arisen has no cessation and no production, no annihilation and no permanence, no coming and no going, no difference and no sameness, is free of elaborations and is at peace." See also BABU.

Avalokitavrata. (T. Spyan ras gzigs brtul zhugs). Indian scholiast of the eighth century CE and successor to BHAVAVIVEKA [alt. Bhavya] in the SVATANTRIKA school of MADHYAMAKA. Avalokitavrata wrote the PrajNApradīpatīkA, an extensive subcommentary to BhAvaviveka's PRAJNAPRADĪPA, his commentary on NAGARJUNA's MuLAMADHYAMAKAKARIKA, in which he defends BhAvaviveka from CANDRAKĪRTI's critiques. That subcommentary is extant only in Tibetan translation.

Avatamsaka Sutra (Sanskrit) Avataṃsaka Sutra The Flower Ornament Scripture or The Flower Adornment Scripture; a long and very profound Buddhist scripture, which Nagarjuna “brought back from the Realm of the Nagas” (adepts) (BCW 14:510). The basis for modern translations is the Chinese translation of Shikshananda (652-710). (BCW 14:285, 423; 6:100-1)

babu. (J. happu; K. p'albul 八不). In Chinese, "eight extremes" (the Chinese is a free rendering of the Sanskrit AstANTA): the antinomies of production and cessation, eternality and annihilation, sameness and difference, and coming and going, which constitute eight misconceptions of sentient beings. The negation of these eight extremes is a central philosophical and soteriological tenet of the SAN LUN ZONG (the East Asian equivalent of the MADHYAMAKA school) and is adapted from the opening verse of NAGARJUNA's MuLAMADHYAMAKAKARIKA. See also CATUsKOtI.

Bahusrutīya. (P. Bahussutaka/Bahulika; T. Mang du thos pa; C. Duowenbu; J. Tamonbu; K. Tamunbu 多聞部). In Sanskrit, lit. "Great Learning"; one of the traditional eighteen schools of mainstream Indian Buddhism. The Bahusrutīya was one of the two subschools of the KAUKKUtIKA branch of the MAHASAMGHIKA school, along with the PRAJNAPTIVADA, which may have split off as a separate school around the middle of the third century CE. The school was based in NAGARJUNAKOndA in the Andhra region of India, although there is also evidence it was active in the Indian Northwest. One of the few extant texts of the Bahusrutīya is HARIVARMAN's c. third-century CE *TATTVASIDDHI ([alt. *Satyasiddhi]; C. CHENGSHI LUN, "Treatise on Establishing Reality"), a summary of the school's lost ABHIDHARMA; this text is extant only in its Chinese translation. The positions the Bahusrutīya advocates are closest to those of the STHAVIRANIKAYA and SAUTRANTIKA schools, though, unlike the SthaviranikAya, it accepts the reality of "unmanifest materiality" (AVIJNAPTIRuPA) and, unlike the SautrAntika, rejects the notion of an "intermediate state" (ANTARABHAVA) between existences. The Bahusrutīya also opposed the SARVASTIVADA position that dharmas exist in both past and future, the MahAsAMghika view that thought is inherently pure, and the VATSĪPUTRĪYA premise that the "person" (PUDGALA) exists. The Bahusrutīya thus seems to have adopted a middle way between the extremes of "everything exists" and "everything does not exist," both of which it views as expediencies that do not represent ultimate reality. The Bahusrutīya also claimed that the Buddha offered teachings that were characterized by both supramundane (LOKOTTARA) and mundane (LAUKIKA) realities, a position distinct from the LOKOTTARAVADA, one of the other main branches of the MahAsAMghika, which claimed that the Buddha articulates all of his teachings in a single utterance that is altogether transcendent (lokottara). The Bahusrutīya appears to be one of the later subschools of mainstream Buddhism; its views are not discussed in the PAli KATHAVATTHU. They are also claimed to have attempted a synthesis of mainstream and MAHAYANA doctrine.

BhadracarīpranidhAna. (T. Bzang po spyod pa'i smon lam; C. Puxian pusa xingyuan zan; J. Fugen bosatsu gyogansan; K. Pohyon posal haengwon ch'an 普賢菩薩行願讚). In Sanskrit, "Vows of Good Conduct," the last section of the GAndAVYuHA in the AVATAMSAKASuTRA and one of the most beloved texts in all of MahAyAna Buddhism; also known as the SamantabhadracarīpranidhAnarAja. The BhadracarīpranidhAna focuses on the ten great vows (PRAnIDHANA) taken by SAMANTABHADRA to realize and gain access to the DHARMADHATU, which thereby enable him to benefit sentient beings. The ten vows are: (1) to pay homage to all the buddhas, (2) to praise the tathAgatas, (3) to make unlimited offerings, (4) to repent from one's transgressions in order to remove karmic hindrances (cf. KARMAVARAnA), (5) to take delight in others' merit, (6) to request the buddhas to turn the wheel of dharma (DHARMACAKRAPRAVARTANA), (7) to request the buddhas to continue living in the world, (8) always to follow the teachings of the Buddha, (9) always to comply with the needs of sentient beings, and (10) to transfer all merit to sentient beings for their spiritual edification. The text ends with a stanza wishing that sentient beings still immersed in evil be reborn in the PURE LAND of AMITABHA. The text was translated into Chinese in 754 by AMOGHAVAJRA (705-774). Other Chinese recensions appear in the Wenshushili fayuan jing ("Scripture on the Vows made by MANJUsRĪ"), translated in 420 by BUDDHABHADRA (359-429), which corresponds to the verse section from Ru busiyi jietuo jingjie Puxian xingyuan pin, the last roll of the forty-roll recension of the Huayan jing translated by PRAJNA in 798. (There is no corresponding version in either the sixty- or the eighty-roll translations of the Huajan jing.) The verses are also called the "Précis of the Huayan jing" (Lüe Huayan jing), because they are believed to constitute the core teachings of the AvataMsakasutra. In the main Chinese recension by Amoghavajra, the text consists of sixty-two stanzas, each consisting of quatrains with lines seven Sinographs in length, thus giving a total number of 1,736 Sinographs. In addition to the sixty-two core stanzas, Amoghavajra's version adds ten more stanzas of the Bada pusa zan ("Eulogy to the Eight Great Bodhisattvas") from the Badapusa mantuluo jing ("Scripture of the MAndALAs of the Eight Great Bodhisattvas") (see AstAMAHABODHISATTVA; AstAMAHOPAPUTRA). Buddhabhadra's version consists of forty-four stanzas with 880 Sinographs, each stanza consisting of a quatrain with lines five Sinographs in length. PrajNa's version contains fifty-two stanzas with each quatrain consisting of lines seven sinographs in length. There are five commentaries on the text attributed to eminent Indian exegetes, including NAGARJUNA, DIGNAGA, and VASUBANDHU, which are extant only in Tibetan translation. In the Tibetan tradition, the prayer is called the "king of prayers" (smon lam gyi rgyal po). It is incorporated into many liturgies; the opening verses of the prayer are commonly incorporated into a Tibetan's daily recitation.

BhavasaMkrAnti. (T. Srid pa 'pho ba). In Sanskrit, "Transference of Existence," a brief work ascribed to NAGARJUNA; also known as MadhyamakabhavasaMkrAnti. The title seems to suggest that it deals with the practice of transferring one's consciousness from one body to another, but this topic is actually not covered in the text. It discusses instead standard MADHYAMAKA topics such as the function of VIKALPA as the source of the world, the ultimate nonexistence of all phenomena, the six perfections (PARAMITA), UPAYA and PRAJNA, and the two truths (SATYADVAYA). NAgArjuna's major commentators (BHAVAVIVEKA, CANDRAKĪRTI et al.) do not cite the work, which raises questions about its authorship.

BhAvaviveka. (T. Legs ldan 'byed; C. Qingbian; J. Shoben; K. Ch'ongbyon 清辯) (c. 500-570). Also known as BhAviveka and Bhavya, an important Indian master of the MADHYAMAKA school, identified in Tibet as a proponent of SVATANTRIKA MADHYAMAKA and, within that, of SAUTRANTIKA-SVATANTRIKA-MADHYAMAKA. He is best known for two works. The first is the PRAJNAPRADĪPA, his commentary on NAGARJUNA's MuLAMADHYAMAKAKARIKA; this work has an extensive subcommentary by AVALOKITAVRATA. Although important in its own right as one of the major commentaries on the central text of the Madhyamaka school, the work is most often mentioned for its criticism of the commentary of BUDDHAPALITA on the first chapter of NAgArjuna's text, where BhAvaviveka argues that it is insufficient for the Madhyamaka only to state the absurd consequences (PRASAnGA) that follow from the position of the opponent. According to BhAvaviveka, the Madhyamaka must eventually state his own position in the form of what is called an autonomous inference (svatantrAnumAna) or an autonomous syllogism (SVATANTRAPRAYOGA). In his own commentary on the first chapter of NAgArjuna's text, CANDRAKĪRTI came to the defense of BuddhapAlita and criticized BhAvaviveka, stating that it is inappropriate for the Madhyamaka to use autonomous syllogisms. It is on the basis of this exchange that Tibetan exegetes identified two schools within Madhyamaka: the SvAtantrika, which includes BhAvaviveka, and the PrAsangika, which includes BuddhapAlita and Candrakīrti. ¶ The other major work of BhAvaviveka is his MADHYAMAKAHṚDAYA, written in verse, and its prose autocommentary, the TARKAJVALA. The Madhyamakahṛdaya is preserved in both Sanskrit and Tibetan, the TarkajvAlA only in Tibetan. It is a work of eleven chapters, the first three and the last two of which set forth the main points in BhAvaviveka's view of the nature of reality and the Buddhist path, dealing with such topics as BODHICITTA, the knowledge of reality (tattvajNAna), and omniscience (SARVAJNATA). The intervening chapters set forth the positions (and BhAvaviveka's refutations) of various Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools, including the sRAVAKA, YOGACARA, SAMkhya, Vaisesika, VedAnta, and MīmAMsA. These chapters (along with sANTARAKsITA's TATTVASAMGRAHA) are an invaluable source of insight into the relations between Madhyamaka and other contemporary Indian philosophical schools, both Buddhist and non-Buddhist. The chapter on the srAvakas, for example, provides a detailed account of the reasons put forth by the sRAVAKAYANA schools of mainstream Buddhism as to why the MahAyAna sutras are not the word of the Buddha (BUDDHAVACANA). BhAvaviveka's response to these charges, as well as his refutation of YOGACARA in the subsequent chapter, are particularly spirited, arguing that reality (TATHATA) cannot be substantially existent (dravyasat), as those rival schools claim. However, BhAvaviveka made extensive use of both the logic and epistemology of DIGNĂGA, at least at the level of conventional analysis. BhAvaviveka appears to have been the first Madhyamaka author to declare that the negations set forth by the Madhyamaka school are nonaffirming (or simple) negations (PRASAJYAPRATIsEDHA) rather than affirming (or implicative) negations (PARYUDASAPRATIsEDHA). Also attributed to BhAvaviveka is the Karatalaratna ("Jewel in Hand Treatise"; Zhangzhen lun), a work preserved only in the Chinese translation of XUANZANG. BhAvaviveka's MADHYAMAKARTHASAMGRAHA is a brief text in verse. As the title suggests, it provides an outline of the basic topics of MADHYAMAKA philosophy, such as the middle way (S. MADHYAMAPRATIPAD) between the extremes of existence and nonexistence, Madhyamaka reasoning, and the two truths (SATYADVAYA). The MADHYAMAKARATNAPRADĪPA is likely the work of another author of the same name, since it makes reference to such later figures as Candrakīrti and DHARMAKĪRTI.

bka' babs bzhi. (kabap shi). In Tibetan, "four instructional lineages" (bka' means words-of a buddha or enlightened master-and babs means to descend in a stream); a series of tantric instructions that the Indian SIDDHA TILOPA received from various masters, codified, and then passed on to his disciple NAROPA. These later became foundational teachings for the BKA' BRGYUD sect of Tibetan Buddhism and were incorporated into the six doctrines of NAropa (NA RO CHOS DRUG). Tibetan sources vary widely regarding the lineage and content of these four transmissions. According to a biography of Tilopa composed by MAR PA CHOS KYI BLO GROS, they are (1) the transmission of illusory body (T. sgyu lus kyi bka' babs) received from the siddha NAGARJUNA; (2) the transmission of dreams (T. rmi lam gyi bka' babs) received from the siddha CaryApa; (3) the transmission of clear light (T. 'od gsal gyi bka' babs) received from the siddha Lavapa; and (4) the transmission of inner heat (T. gtum mo'i bka' babs) received from JNAnadAkinī. According to other sources, these four may alternatively include the transmissions of MAHAMUDRA, the intermediate state (BAR DO), mother tantra (MATṚTANTRA), father tantra (PITṚTANTRA), and individual tantras such as the tantra of CAKRASAMVARA, HEVAJRA, and GUHYASAMAJA.

Nagarjuna (Sanskrit) Nāgārjuna A Buddhist arhat or sage generally recognized in Northern Buddhism as a bodhisattva-nirmanakaya. After his conversion to Buddhism, he went to China, and according to legend converted the whole country to Buddhism. He was famous for his dialectical subtlety in metaphysical argument, and was the first teacher of the Amitabha doctrine. He was one of the most prominent representatives and a founder of the esoteric Mahayana system. The source of his deeper teachings is undoubtedly the secret school of adepts; and his esoteric doctrine is one with esoteric theosophy. He was called the Dragon-Tree on account of his esoteric wisdom; and was referred to as one of the four suns which illumine the world.

Bodhicittavivarana. (T. Byang chub sems 'grel). In Sanskrit, "Exposition of the Mind of Enlightenment"; a work traditionally ascribed to NAGARJUNA, although the text is not cited by NAgArjuna's commentators BUDDHAPALITA, CANDRAKĪRTI, or BHAVAVIVEKA. This absence, together with apparently tantric elements in the text and the fact that it contains a sustained critique of VIJNANAVADA, have led some scholars to conclude that it is not the work of the same NAgArjuna who authored the MuLAMADHYAMAKAKARIKA. Nonetheless, the work is widely cited in later Indian MahAyAna literature and is important in Tibet. The text consists of 112 stanzas, preceded by a brief section in prose. It is essentially a compendium of MAHAYANA theory and practice, intended for bodhisattvas, both monastic and lay, organized around the theme of BODHICITTA, both in its conventional aspect (SAMVṚTIBODHICITTA) as the aspiration to buddhahood out of compassion for all sentient beings, and in its ultimate aspect (PARAMARTHABODHICITTA) as the insight into emptiness (suNYATA). In addition to the refutation of VijNAnavAda, the text refutes the self as understood by the TĪRTHIKAs and the SKANDHAs as understood by the sRAVAKAs.

bodhisaMbhAra. (T. byang chub kyi tshogs; C. puti ju/puti ziliang; J. bodaigu/bodaishiryo; K. pori ku/pori charyang 菩提具/菩提資糧). In Sanskrit, "collection" of, or "equipment" (SAMBHARA) for, "enlightenment" (BODHI); the term refers to specific sets of spiritual requisites (also called "accumulations") necessary for the attainment of awakening. The BODHISATTVA becomes equipped with these factors during his progress along the path (MARGA) leading to the attainment of buddhahood. In a buddha, the amount of this "enlightenment-collection" is understood to be infinite. These factors are often divided into two major groups: the collection of merit (PUnYASAMBHARA) and the collection of knowledge (JNANASAMBHARA). The collection of merit (PUnYA) entails the strengthening of four perfections (PARAMITA): generosity (DANA), morality (sĪLA), patience (KsANTI), and energy (VĪRYA). The collection of knowledge entails the cultivation of meditative states leading to the realization that emptiness (suNYATA) is the ultimate nature of all things. The bodhisaMbhAra were expounded in the *BodhisaMbhAraka, attributed to the MADHYAMAKA exegete NAGARJUNA, which is now extant only in Dharmagupta's 609 CE Chinese translation, titled the Puti ziliang lun. In this treatise, NAgArjuna explains that the acquisition, development, and fruition of these factors is an essentially interminable process: enlightenment will be achieved when these factors have been developed for as many eons as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River (see GAnGANADĪVALUKA). The text also emphasizes the importance of compassion (KARUnA), calling it the mother of perfect wisdom (PRAJNAPARAMITA). The perfection of wisdom sutras stress that PARInAMANA (turning over [merit]) and ANUMODANA (rejoicing [in the good deeds of others]) are necessary to amass the collection necessary to reach the final goal.

BuddhapAlita. (T. Sangs rgyas bskyang) (c. 470-540). An Indian Buddhist scholar of the MADHYAMAKA school, who is regarded in Tibet as a key figure of what was dubbed the *PRASAnGIKA school of Madhyamaka. Little is known about the life of BuddhapAlita. He is best known for his commentary on NAGARJUNA's MuLAMADHYAMAKAKARIKA, a commentary that was thought to survive only in Tibetan translation, until the recent rediscovery of a Sanskrit manuscript. BuddhapAlita's commentary bears a close relation in some chapters to the AKUTOBHAYA, another commentary on NAgArjuna's MulamadhyamakakArikA of uncertain authorship, which is sometimes attributed to NAgArjuna himself. In his commentary, BuddhapAlita does not adopt some of the assumptions of the Buddhist logical tradition of the day, including the need to state one's position in the form of an autonomous inference (SVATANTRANUMANA). Instead, BuddhapAlita merely states an absurd consequence (PRASAnGA) that follows from the opponent's position. In his own commentary on the first chapter of NAgArjuna's text, BHAVAVIVEKA criticizes BuddhapAlita's method, arguing for the need for the Madhyamaka adept to state his own position after refuting the position of the opponent. In his commentary on the same chapter, CANDRAKĪRTI in turn defended the approach of BuddhapAlita and criticized BhAvaviveka. It was on the basis of these three commentaries that later Tibetan exegetes identified two schools within Madhyamaka, the SVATANTRIKA, in which they included BhAvaviveka, and the PrAsangika, in which they included BuddhapAlita and Candrakīrti.

buddhavacana. (T. sangs rgyas kyi bka'; C. foyu; J. butsugo; K. puro 佛語). In Sanskrit and PAli, "word of the Buddha"; those teachings accepted as having been either spoken by the Buddha or spoken with his sanction. Much traditional scholastic literature is devoted to the question of what does and does not qualify as the word of the Buddha. The SuTRAPItAKA and the VINAYAPItAKA of the Buddhist canon (TRIPItAKA), which are claimed to have been initially redacted at the first Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, FIRST), held in RAJAGṚHA soon after the Buddha's death, is considered by the tradition-along with the ABHIDHARMAPItAKA, which was added later-to be the authentic word of the Buddha; this judgment is made despite the fact that the canon included texts that were spoken, or elaborated upon, by his direct disciples (e.g., separate versions of the BHADDEKARATTASUTTA, which offer exegeses by various disciples of an enigmatic verse the Buddha had taught) or that included material that clearly postdated the Buddha's death (such as the MAHAPARINIRVAnASuTRA, which tells of the events leading up to, and immediately following, the Buddha's demise, or the NAradasutta, which refers to kings who lived long after the Buddha's time). Such material could still be considered buddhavacana, however, by resort to the four references to authority (MAHAPADEsA; CATURMAHAPADEsA). These four types of authority are found listed in various SuTRAs, including the eponymous PAli MahApadesasutta, and provide an explicit set of criteria through which to evaluate whether a teaching is the authentic buddhavacana. Teachings could be accepted as authentic if they were heard from four authorities: (1) the mouth of the Buddha himself; (2) a SAMGHA of wise elders; (3) a group of monks who were specialists in either the dharma (dharmadhara), vinaya (vinayadhara), or the proto-abhidharma (mAtṛkAdhara); or (4) a single monk who was widely learned in such specializations. The teaching should then be compared side by side with the authentic SuTRA and VINAYA; if found to be compatible with these two strata of the canon and not in contradiction with reality (DHARMATA), it would then be accepted as the buddhavacana and thus marked by the characteristics of the Buddha's words (buddhavacanalaksana). Because of this dispensation, the canons of all schools of Buddhism were never really closed, but could continue to be reinvigorated with new expressions of the Buddha's insights. In addition, completely new texts that purported to be from the mouths of the buddha(s) and/or BODHISATTVAs, such as found in the MAHAYANA or VAJRAYANA traditions, could also begin to circulate and be accepted as the authentic buddhavacana since they too conformed with the reality (dharmatA) that is great enlightenment (MAHABODHI). For example, a MahAyAna sutra, the AdhyAsayasaNcodanasutra, declares, "All which is well-spoken, Maitreya, is spoken by the Buddha." The sutra qualifies the meaning of "well spoken" (subhAsita), explaining that all inspired speech should be known to be the word of the Buddha if it is meaningful and not meaningless, if it is principled and not unprincipled, if it brings about the extinction and not the increase of the afflictions (KLEsA), and if it sets forth the qualities and benefits of NIRVAnA and not the qualities and benefits of SAMSARA. However, the authenticity of the MahAyAna sutras (and later the tantras) was a topic of great contention between the proponents of the MahAyAna and mainstream schools throughout the history of Indian Buddhism and beyond. Defenses of the MahAyAna as buddhavacana appear in the MahAyAna sutras themselves, with predictions of the terrible fates that will befall those who deny their authenticity; and arguments for the authenticity of the MahAyAna sutras were a stock element in writings by MahAyAna authors as early as NAGARJUNA and extending over the next millennium. Related, and probably earlier, terms for buddhavacana are the "teaching of the master" (S. sAstuḥ sAsanam) and the "dispensation of the Buddha" (buddhAnusAsanam). See also APOCRYPHA, DAZANGJING, GTER MA.

Bumapa (Tibetan) [possibly dbu ma pa (u-ma-pa) translation of Sanskrit madhyamaka or madhyamika the school of Buddhist philosophy which follows Nagarjuna] “A school of men, usually a college of mystic students” (TG 69).

Candrakīrti. (T. Zla ba grags pa) (c. 600-650). An important MADHYAMAKA master and commentator on the works of NAGARJUNA and ARYADEVA, associated especially with what would later be known as the PRASAnGIKA branch of Madhyamaka. Very little is known about his life; according to Tibetan sources, he was from south India and a student of Kamalabuddhi. He may have been a monk of NALANDA. He wrote commentaries on NAgArjuna's YUKTIsAstIKA and suNYATASAPTATI as well as Aryadeva's CATUḤsATAKA. His two most famous and influential works, however, are his PRASANNAPADA ("Clear Words"), which is a commentary on NAgArjuna's MuLAMADHYAMAKAKARIKA, and his MADHYAMAKAVATARA ("Entrance to the Middle Way"). In the first chapter of the PrasannapadA, he defends the approach of BUDDHAPALITA against the criticism of BHAVAVIVEKA in their own commentaries on the MulamadhyamakakArikA. Candrakīrti argues that it is inappropriate for the Madhyamaka to use what is called an autonomous syllogism (SVATANTRAPRAYOGA) in debating with an opponent and that the Madhyamaka should instead use a consequence (PRASAnGA). It is largely based on Candrakīrti's discussion that Tibetan scholars retrospectively identified two subschools of Madhyamaka, the SVATANTRIKA (in which they placed BhAvaviveka) and the PrAsangika (in which they placed BuddhapAlita and Candrakīrti). Candrakīrti's other important work is the MadhyamakAvatAra, written in verse with an autocommentary. It is intended as a general introduction to the MulamadhyamakakArikA, and provides what Candrakīrti regards as the soteriological context for NAgArjuna's work. It sets forth the BODHISATTVA path, under the rubric of the ten bodhisattva stages (BHuMI; DAsABHuMI) and the ten perfections (PARAMITA). By far the longest and most influential chapter of the text is the sixth, dealing with the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNAPARAMITA), where Candrakīrti discusses the two truths (SATYADVAYA), offers a critique of CITTAMATRA, and sets forth the reasoning for proving the selflessness of phenomena (DHARMANAIRATMYA) and the selflessness of the person (PUDGALANAIRATMYA), using his famous sevenfold analysis of a chariot as an example. Candrakīrti seems to have had little influence in the first centuries after his death, perhaps accounting for the fact that his works were not translated into Chinese (until the 1940s). There appears to have been a revival of interest in his works in India, especially in Kashmir, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, at the time of the later dissemination (PHYI DAR) of Buddhism to Tibet. Over the next few centuries, Candrakīrti's works became increasingly important in Tibet, such that eventually the MadhyamakAvatAra became the locus classicus for the study of Madhyamaka in Tibet, studied and commented upon by scholars of all sects and serving as one of the "five texts" (GZHUNG LNGA) of the DGE LUGS curriculum. ¶ There appear to be later Indian authors who were called, or called themselves, Candrakīrti. These include the authors of the Trisaranasaptati and the MadhyamakAvatAraprajNA, neither of which appears to have been written by the author described above. Of particular importance is yet another Candrakīrti, or CandrakīrtipAda, the author of the Pradīpoddyotana, an influential commentary on the GUHYASAMAJATANTRA. Scholars often refer to this author as Candrakīrti II or "the tantric Candrakīrti."

Catuḥsataka. (T. Bzhi brgya pa; C. Guang Bai lun ben; J. Kohyakuronpon; K. Kwang Paengnon pon 廣百論本). In Sanskrit, "Four Hundred [Stanzas]"; the magnum opus of ARYADEVA, a third century CE Indian monk of the MADHYAMAKA school of MAHAYANA philosophy and the chief disciple of NAGARJUNA, the founder of that tradition. The four-hundred verses are divided into sixteen chapters of twenty-five stanzas each, which cover many of the seminal teachings of Madhyamaka philosophy. The first four of the sixteen chapters are dedicated to arguments against erroneous conceptions of permanence, satisfaction, purity, and a substantial self. In chapter 5, Aryadeva discusses the career of a BODHISATTVA, emphasizing the necessity for compassion (KARUnA) in all of the bodhisattva's actions. Chapter 6 is a treatment of the three afflictions (KLEsA) of greed or sensuality (LOBHA or RAGA), hatred or aversion (DVEsA), and delusion (MOHA). Chapter 7 explains the need to reject sensual pleasures. In chapter 8, Aryadeva discusses the proper conduct and attitude of a student of the TATHAGATA's teaching. Chapters 9 through 15 contain a series of arguments refuting the erroneous views of other Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools. These refutations center on Aryadeva's understanding of emptiness (suNYATA) as the fundamental characteristic of reality. For example, in chapter 9, Aryadeva argues against the conception that anything, including liberation, is permanent and independent of causes. In chapter 11, Aryadeva argues against the SARVASTIVADA claim that dharmas exist in reality in the past, present, and future. Chapter 16, the final chapter, is a discussion of emptiness and its centrality to the Madhyamaka school and its doctrine. There is a lengthy and influential commentary on the text by CANDRAKĪRTI, entitled CatuḥsatakatīkA; its full title is BodhisattvayogacaryAcatuḥsatakatīkA. The Catuḥsataka was translated into Chinese by XUANZANG and his translation team at DACI'ENSI, in either 647 or 650-651 CE. The work is counted as one of the "three treatises" of the Chinese SAN LUN ZONG, where it is treated as Aryadeva's own expansion of his *sATAsASTRA (C. BAI LUN; "One Hundred Treatise"); hence, the Chinese instead translates the title as "Expanded Text on the One Hundred [Verse] Treatise." Some have speculated, to the contrary, that the satasAstra is an abbreviated version of the Catuḥsataka. The two works consider many of the same topics, including the nature of NIRVAnA and the meaning of emptiness in a similar fashion and both refute SAMkhya and Vaisesika positions, but the order of their treatment of these topics and their specific contents differ; the satasAstra also contains material not found in the Catuḥsataka. It is, therefore, safer to presume that these are two independent texts, not that one is a summary or expansion of the other. It is possible that the satasAstra represents KumArajīva's interpretation of the Catuḥsataka, but this is difficult to determine without further clarity on the Indian text that KumArajīva translated.

Catuḥstava. (T. Bstod pa bzhi). In Sanskrit, "Four Songs of Praise"; a set of four devotional hymns attributed to the Indian monk NAGARJUNA, the founder of the MADHYAMAKA school of MAHAYANA philosophy. More than four such hymns have survived, so it is uncertain which were the original four. The four hymns now included in this set are entitled LOKATĪTASTAVA ("Hymn to He Who Transcends the World"), NIRAUPAMYASTAVA ("Hymn to He Who Is Unequaled"), ACINTYASTAVA ("Hymn to the Inconceivable"), and PARAMARTHASTAVA ("Hymn to the Ultimate"). These verses are addressed to the Buddha himself, in honor of his virtues and various aspects of his enlightenment. The author praises the Buddha for his supreme insight, his compassion, and his efforts to awaken all beings. The hymns also contain many important aspects of the philosophy of the Madhyamaka school. For example, verses five through ten of the LokAtītastava are used to explain the interdependence, and therefore inessential nature, of each of the five aggregates (SKANDHA).

*Caturasītisiddhapravṛtti. (T. Grub thob brgyad bcu rtsa bzhi'i lo rgyus). In Sanskrit, "The Lives of the Eighty-four Siddhas"; a tantric doxography ascribed to the early twelfth-century Indian author ABHAYADATTAsRĪ. The original Sanskrit version has been lost, but the text is preserved in Tibetan translation. The work records brief vitae for the great SIDDHAs (or mahAsiddhas) of Indian tantric Buddhism, who are commonly enumerated in a list of eighty-four. While the list varies, according to Abhayadattasrī's work, the eighty-four siddhas include Luyipa, Līlapa, VIRuPA, dombipa, savaripa, SARAHA, Kankaripa, Mīnapa, Goraksa, CaurAngi, Vīnapa, sAntipa, Tantipa, Camaripa, Khadgapa, NAGARJUNA, KAnḥapa, Karnaripa, Thaganapa, NAROPA, salipa, TILOPA, Catrapa, Bhadrapa, Dhukhandi, Ajokipa, Kalapa, Dhombipa, Kankana, Kambala, tengipa, Bhandhepa, Tandhepa, Kukkuripa, Kucipa, Dharmapa, Mahipa, Acinta, Babhahi, Nalina, Bhusuku, INDRABHuTI, Mekopa, Kotali, KaMparipa, JAlandhari, RAHULA, Dharmapa, Dhokaripa, Medhina, Pankaja, Ghandhapa, Yogipa, Caluki, Gorura, Lucika, Niguna, JayAnanda, Pacari, Campaka, Bhiksana, Telopa, Kumaripa, Caparipa, ManibhadrA, MekhalA, KanakhalA, Kalakala, Kantali, Dhahuli, Udheli, Kapalapa, Kirava, Sakara, Sarvabhaksa, NAgabodhi, DArika, Putali, Panaha, Kokali, Ananga, LaksmīnkarA, Samudra, and Vyali. See MAHASIDDHA.

catuskoti. (T. mu bzhi; C. siju fenbie; J. shiku funbetsu; K. sagu punbyol 四句分別). In Sanskrit, "four antinomies" or "four alternatives"; a dialectical form of argumentation used in Buddhist philosophy to categorize sets of specific propositions, i.e., (1) A, (2) B, (3) both A and B, (4) neither A nor B; or (1) A, (2) not A, (3) both A and not A, 4) neither A nor not A. For instance, something may be said to (1) exist, (2) not exist, (3) both exist and not exist, and (4) neither exist nor not exist. Or, 1) everything is one, (2) everything is many, (3) everything is both one and many, 4) everything is neither one nor many. In the sutra literature, the catuskoti is employed to categorize the speculative philosophical propositions of non-Buddhists (TĪRTHIKA) in a list of fourteen "indeterminate" or "unanswered" (AVYAKṚTA) questions to which the Buddha refused to respond. These questions involve various metaphysical assertions that were used in traditional India to evaluate a thinker's philosophical pedigree. In the case of ontology, for example: (1) Is the world eternal? (2) Is the world not eternal? (3) Is the world both eternal and not eternal? (4) Is the world neither eternal nor not eternal? Or, in the case of soteriology, for a TATHAGATA, or an enlightened person: (1) Does the tathAgata exist after death? (2) Does the tathAgata not exist after death? (3) Does the tathAgata both exist and not exist after death? (4) Does the tathAgata neither exist nor not exist after death? Because of the conceptual flaws inherent in any prospective answer to these sets of questions, the Buddha refused to answer them and his silence is sometimes interpreted to mean that his teachings transcend conceptual thought (PRAPANCA). This transcendent quality of Buddhist philosophy is displayed in the MADHYAMAKA school, which seeks to ascertain the conceptual flaws inherent in any definitive philosophical proposition and show instead that all propositions-even those made by Buddhists-are "empty" (sunya). NAGARJUNA, the founder of the Madhyamaka school, analyzes many philosophical positions in terms of a catuskoti to demonstrate their emptiness. In analyzing causality, for example, NAgArjuna in the opening lines of his MuLAMADHYAMAKAKARIKA analyzes the possible philosophical positions on the connection between cause (HETU) and effect (PHALA) as a catuskoti: (1) cause and effect are identical, as the SAMkhya school claims; (2) cause and effect are different, as the Buddhists propose; (3) cause and effect are both identical and different, and thus the effect is both continuous with as well as emergent from the cause, as the JAINA school claims; (4) cause and effect are neither identical nor different, and thus things occur by chance, as the materialists and skeptics advocate. NAgArjuna instead reveals the absurd consequences inherent in all of these positions to show that the only defensible position is that cause and effect are "empty"; thus, all compounded things are ultimately unproduced (ANUTPADA) and empty of intrinsic existence (NIḤSVABHAVA). Classifications of teachings using the catuskoti are widely found in Buddhist literature of all traditions.

DAnapAla. (C. Shihu; J. Sego; K. Siho 施護) (d.u.; fl. c. 980 CE). In Sanskrit, lit. "Protector of Giving"; one of the last great Indian translators of Buddhist texts into Chinese. A native of OddiyAna in the GANDHARA region of India, he was active in China during the Northern Song dynasty. At the order of the Song Emperor Taizhong (r. 960-997), he was installed in a translation bureau to the west of the imperial monastery of Taiping Xingguosi (in Yuanzhou, present-day Jiangxi province), where he and his team are said to have produced some 111 translations in over 230 rolls. His translations include texts from the PRAJNAPARAMITA, MADHYAMAKA, and tantric traditions, including the AstASAHASRIKAPRAJNAPARAMITA, SUVARnAPRABHASOTTAMASuTRA, SARVATATHAGATATATTVASAMGRAHA, HEVAJRATANTRA, NAGARJUNA's YUKTIsAstIKA and DHARMADHATUSTAVA, and KAMALAsĪLA's BHAVANAKRAMA, as well as several DHARAnĪ texts.

Ekasloka-Sastra (Sanskrit) Ekaśloka-śāstra [from eka one + śloka stanza + śāstra scripture] A Buddhist mystical work written by Nagarjuna, called in Chinese the Yih-shu-lu-kia-lun.

In China: the Wu Chi (Non-Being), T'ai Chi (Being), and, on occasion, Tao. In India: the Vedantic Atman (Self) and Brahman (the Real), the Buddhist Bhutatathata (indeterminate Thatness), Vignaptimatra (the One, pure, changeless, eternal consciousness grounding all appearances), and the Void of Nagarjuna.

In the Dhammapada, one of the most respected texts of the Southern Buddhists, we read: “The self is the master of the self [atta hi attano natho], for who else could be its master?” (12:160); in the Mahaparinibbana-sutta (2:33, 35): attadipa attasarana, “be ye as those who have the self [atta] as their light [diva, also translated as island]; be ye as those who have the self [atta] as their refuge [sarana]” (cf RK Dh. 12, 45). Also we find Nagarjuna stating in his commentary on the Prajna-paramita: “Sometimes the Tathagata taught that the Atman verily exists, and yet at other times he taught that the Atman does not exist” (Chinese recension of Yuan Chung).

Madhyamikas (Sanskrit) Mādhyamika-s Belonging to the middle way; a sect mentioned in the Vishnu-Purana, probably at first a sect of Hindu atheists. A school of the same name was founded later in Tibet and China, and as it adopted some of the esoteric principles taught by Nagarjuna, one of the great founders of the esoteric Mahayana system, it had certain elements of esoteric truth. But because of its tendency by means of thesis and antithesis to reduce everything into contrary categories, and then to deny both, it may be called a school of Nihilists for whom everything is an illusion and an error in the world of thought, in the subjective as well as in the objective universe. This school is a good example of the danger of wandering too far in mere intellectual disquisition from the fundamental bases of the esoteric philosophy, for such merely brain-mind activity will infallibly lead to a philosophy of barren negation.

Mahayana (Sanskrit) Mahāyāna [from mahā great + yāna vehicle] Great vehicle; a highly mystical system of Northern Buddhist philosophy and learning, in the main founded by Nagarjuna. Of the two schools of Buddhism, usually classed under the Mahayana and Hinayana or Theravada respectively, the Mahayana is usually called the esoteric and the Hinayana the exoteric. But due to human weakness, love of the eye doctrine, and misunderstanding of the rites and ceremonials enjoined, the exoteric teaching of the Mahayana in its popular aspects is stressed today; while its deeper, more mystical teaching has to a large extent been withdrawn into the charge of initiated adepts.

Mahayana-Sutra (Sanskrit) Mahāyāna-sūtra [from Mahāyāna great vehicle + sūtra textbook] Writings which treat of the Buddhist teachings as they were promulgated originally by Nagarjuna.

Mean: In general, that which in some way mediates or occupies a middle position among various things or between two extremes. Hence (especially in the plural) that through which an end is attained; in mathematics the word is used for any one of various notions of average; in ethics it represents moderation, temperance, prudence, the middle way. In mathematics:   The arithmetic mean of two quantities is half their sum; the arithmetic mean of n quantities is the sum of the n quantities, divided by n. In the case of a function f(x) (say from real numbers to real numbers) the mean value of the function for the values x1, x2, . . . , xn of x is the arithmetic mean of f(x1), f(x2), . . . , f(xn). This notion is extended to the case of infinite sets of values of x by means of integration; thus the mean value of f(x) for values of x between a and b is ∫f(x)dx, with a and b as the limits of integration, divided by the difference between a and b.   The geometric mean of or between, or the mean proportional between, two quantities is the (positive) square root of their product. Thus if b is the geometric mean between a and c, c is as many times greater (or less) than b as b is than a. The geometric mean of n quantities is the nth root of their product.   The harmonic mean of two quantities is defined as the reciprocal of the arithmetic mean of their reciprocals. Hence the harmonic mean of a and b is 2ab/(a + b).   The weighted mean or weighted average of a set of n quantities, each of which is associated with a certain number as weight, is obtained by multiplying each quantity by the associated weight, adding these products together, and then dividing by the sum of the weights. As under A, this may be extended to the case of an infinite set of quantities by means of integration. (The weights have the role of estimates of relative importance of the various quantities, and if all the weights are equal the weighted mean reduces to the simple arithmetic mean.)   In statistics, given a population (i.e., an aggregate of observed or observable quantities) and a variable x having the population as its range, we have:     The mean value of x is the weighted mean of the values of x, with the probability (frequency ratio) of each value taken as its weight. In the case of a finite population this is the same as the simple arithmetic mean of the population, provided that, in calculating the arithmetic mean, each value of x is counted as many times over as it occurs in the set of observations constituting the population.     In like manner, the mean value of a function f(x) of x is the weighted mean of the values of f(x), where the probability of each value of x is taken as the weight of the corresponding value of f(x).     The mode of the population is the most probable (most frequent) value of x, provided there is one such.     The median of the population is so chosen that the probability that x be less than the median (or the probability that x be greater than the median) is ½ (or as near ½ as possible). In the case of a finite population, if the values of x are arranged in order of magnitude     --repeating any one value of x as many times over as it occurs in the set of observations constituting the population     --then the middle term of this series, or the arithmetic mean of the two middle terms, is the median.     --A.C. In cosmology, the fundamental means (arithmetic, geometric, and harmonic) were used by the Greeks in describing or actualizing the process of becoming in nature. The Pythagoreans and the Platonists in particular made considerable use of these means (see the Philebus and the Timaeus more especially). These ratios are among the basic elements used by Plato in his doctrine of the mixtures. With the appearance of the qualitative physics of Aristotle, the means lost their cosmological importance and were thereafter used chiefly in mathematics. The modern mathematical theories of the universe make use of the whole range of means analyzed by the calculus of probability, the theory of errors, the calculus of variations, and the statistical methods. In ethics, the 'Doctrine of the Mean' is the moral theory of moderation, the development of the virtues, the determination of the wise course in action, the practice of temperance and prudence, the choice of the middle way between extreme or conflicting decisions. It has been developed principally by the Chinese, the Indians and the Greeks; it was used with caution by the Christian moralists on account of their rigorous application of the moral law.   In Chinese philosophy, the Doctrine of the Mean or of the Middle Way (the Chung Yung, literally 'Equilibrium and Harmony') involves the absence of immoderate pleasure, anger, sorrow or joy, and a conscious state in which those feelings have been stirred and act in their proper degree. This doctrine has been developed by Tzu Shu (V. C. B.C.), a grandson of Confucius who had already described the virtues of the 'superior man' according to his aphorism "Perfect is the virtue which is according to the mean". In matters of action, the superior man stands erect in the middle and strives to follow a course which does not incline on either side.   In Buddhist philosophy, the System of the Middle Way or Madhyamaka is ascribed more particularly to Nagarjuna (II c. A.D.). The Buddha had given his revelation as a mean or middle way, because he repudiated the two extremes of an exaggerated ascetlsm and of an easy secular life. This principle is also applied to knowledge and action in general, with the purpose of striking a happy medium between contradictory judgments and motives. The final objective is the realization of the nirvana or the complete absence of desire by the gradual destruction of feelings and thoughts. But while orthodox Buddhism teaches the unreality of the individual (who is merely a mass of causes and effects following one another in unbroken succession), the Madhyamaka denies also the existence of these causes and effects in themselves. For this system, "Everything is void", with the legitimate conclusion that "Absolute truth is silence". Thus the perfect mean is realized.   In Greek Ethics, the doctrine of the Right (Mean has been developed by Plato (Philebus) and Aristotle (Nic. Ethics II. 6-8) principally, on the Pythagorean analogy between the sound mind, the healthy body and the tuned string, which has inspired most of the Greek Moralists. Though it is known as the "Aristotelian Principle of the Mean", it is essentially a Platonic doctrine which is preformed in the Republic and the Statesman and expounded in the Philebus, where we are told that all good things in life belong to the class of the mixed (26 D). This doctrine states that in the application of intelligence to any kind of activity, the supreme wisdom is to know just where to stop, and to stop just there and nowhere else. Hence, the "right-mean" does not concern the quantitative measurement of magnitudes, but simply the qualitative comparison of values with respect to a standard which is the appropriate (prepon), the seasonable (kairos), the morally necessary (deon), or generally the moderate (metrion). The difference between these two kinds of metretics (metretike) is that the former is extrinsic and relative, while the latter is intrinsic and absolute. This explains the Platonic division of the sciences into two classes: those involving reference to relative quantities (mathematical or natural), and those requiring absolute values (ethics and aesthetics). The Aristotelian analysis of the "right mean" considers moral goodness as a fixed and habitual proportion in our appetitions and tempers, which can be reached by training them until they exhibit just the balance required by the right rule. This process of becoming good develops certain habits of virtues consisting in reasonable moderation where both excess and defect are avoided: the virtue of temperance (sophrosyne) is a typical example. In this sense, virtue occupies a middle position between extremes, and is said to be a mean; but it is not a static notion, as it leads to the development of a stable being, when man learns not to over-reach himself. This qualitative conception of the mean involves an adaptation of the agent, his conduct and his environment, similar to the harmony displayed in a work of art. Hence the aesthetic aspect of virtue, which is often overstressed by ancient and neo-pagan writers, at the expense of morality proper.   The ethical idea of the mean, stripped of the qualifications added to it by its Christian interpreters, has influenced many positivistic systems of ethics, and especially pragmatism and behaviourism (e.g., A. Huxley's rule of Balanced Excesses). It is maintained that it is also involved in the dialectical systems, such as Hegelianism, where it would have an application in the whole dialectical process as such: thus, it would correspond to the synthetic phase which blends together the thesis and the antithesis by the meeting of the opposites. --T.G. Mean, Doctrine of the: In Aristotle's ethics, the doctrine that each of the moral virtues is an intermediate state between extremes of excess and defect. -- O.R.M.

Paramartha (Sanskrit) Paramārtha [from parama highest, sublime + artha comprehension, aim] True or supreme self-consciousness; also a great mystic work, which according to legend is said to have been delivered to Nagarjuna by ancient initiates.

Sunya-vada: A Buddhist theory (vada) holding the world to be void (sunya) or unreal. Otherwise known as Madhyamaka (q.v.), this Mahayana (q.v.) school as founded by Nagarjuna and elaborated in the Madhyama-kasastra, is hardly correctly translated by nihilism. To be sure, the phenomenal world is said to have no reality, yet the world underlying it defies description, also because of our inability to grasp the thing-in-itself (svabhava). All we know is its dependence on some other condition, its co-called "dependent origination". Thus, nothing definite being able to be said about the real, it is, like the apparent, as nothing, in other words, sunya, void. -- K.F.L.

Sunyavadi: Nihilist; a follower of Nagarjuna.

Yi-shu-lu-chia-lun (Chinese) The Chinese translation of the Ekasloka-sastra of Nagarjuna (Lung-shu). See also YU

Yu (Chinese) Being; according to the Yi-shu-lu-chia-lun (translation of Nagarjuna’s Ekasloka-sastra), “ ‘the Substance giving substance to itself,’ also explain . . . as meaning ‘without action and with action,’ ‘the nature which has no nature of its own’ ” (SD 1:61). Chinese mystics have made it the synonym of svabhavat or Father-Mother, corresponding to the Second Logos of theosophy.



QUOTES [5 / 5 - 16 / 16]


KEYS (10k)

   3 Nagarjuna
   2 Ken Wilber

NEW FULL DB (2.4M)

   7 Nagarjuna
   4 Dalai Lama XIV
   2 Ken Wilber

1:Learn to distinguish what should be done and what not; The clever soul will always select his opportunity. ~ Nagarjuna, [T5],
2:I am not, I will not be.
I have not, I will not have.
This frightens all children,
And kills fear in the wise. ~ Nagarjuna,
3:All philosophies are mental fabrications. There has never been a single doctrine by which one could enter the true essence of things. ~ Nagarjuna,
4:To take the last issue, the difficult issue, first. The first great Dharma systems, East and West, all arose, without exception, in the so-called "axial period" (Karl Jaspers), that rather extraordinary period beginning around the 6th century B.C. (plus or minus several centuries), a period that saw the birth of Gautama Buddha, Lao Tzu, Confucius, Moses, Plato, Patanjali—a period that would soon give way, over the next few centuries, to include Ashvaghosa, Nagarjuna, Plotinus, Jesus, Philo, Valentinus…. Virtually all of the major tenets of the perennial philosophy were first laid down during this amazing era (in Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity….) ~ Ken Wilber, Integral Life, right-bucks,
5:The majority of Buddhists and Buddhist teachers in the West are green postmodern pluralists, and thus Buddhism is largely interpreted in terms of the green altitude and the pluralistic value set, whereas the greatest Buddhist texts are all 2nd tier, teal (Holistic) or higher (for example, Lankavatara Sutra, Kalachakra Tantra, Longchenpa's Kindly Bent to Ease Us, Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka treatises, and so forth).

This makes teal (Holistic), or Integral 2nd tier in general, the lowest deeply adequate level with which to interpret Buddhism, ultimate Reality, and Suchness itself. Thus, interpreting Suchness in pluralistic terms (or lower) would have to be viewed ultimately as a dysfunction, certainly a case of arrested development, and one requiring urgent attention in any Fourth Turning.

These are some of the problems with interpreting states (in this case, Suchness states) with a too-low structure (in short, a severe misinterpretation and thus misunderstanding of the Ultimate). As for interpreting them with dysfunctional structures (of any altitude), the problem more or less speaks for itself. Whether the structure in itself is high enough or not, any malformation of the structure will be included in the interpretation of any state (or any other experience), and hence will deform the interpretation itself, usually in the same basic ways as the structure itself is deformed. Thus, for example, if there is a major Fulcrum-3 (red altitude) repression of various bodily states (sex, aggression, power, feelings), those repressions will be interpreted as part of the higher state itself, and so the state will thus be viewed as devoid of (whereas this is actually a repression of) any sex, aggression, power, feelings, or whatever it is that is dis-owned and pushed into the repressed submergent unconscious. If there is an orange altitude problem with self-esteem (Fulcrum-5), that problem will be magnified by the state experience, and the more intense the state experience, the greater the magnification. Too little self-esteem, and even profound spiritual experiences can be interpreted as "I'm not worthy, so this state-which seems to love me unconditionally-must be confused." If too much self-esteem, higher experiences are misinterpreted, not as a transcendence of the self, but as a reward for being the amazing self I am-"the wonder of being me." ~ Ken Wilber, The Religion Of Tomorrow,

*** WISDOM TROVE ***

*** NEWFULLDB 2.4M ***

1:"Thanks to emptiness, everything is possible." ~ Nagarjuna,
2:"All is possible when emptiness is possible. Nothing is possible when emptiness is impossible." ~ Nagarjuna,
3:Learn to distinguish what should be done and what not; The clever soul will always select his opportunity. ~ Nagarjuna, [T5],
4:I am not, I will not be.
I have not, I will not have.
This frightens all children,
And kills fear in the wise. ~ Nagarjuna,
5:"What makes the limit of Nirvana is also the limit of Samsara. Between the two we cannot find the slightest shade of difference." ~ Nagarjuna,
6:All philosophies are mental fabrications. There has never been a single doctrine by which one could enter the true essence of things. ~ Nagarjuna,
7:To a Mahayana Buddhist exposed to Nagarjuna’s thought, there is an unmistakable resonance between the notion of emptiness and the new physics. ~ Dalai Lama XIV,
8:Einstein’s theory of relativity, with its vivid thought experiments, has given an empirically tested texture to my grasp of Nagarjuna’s theory of the relativity of time. ~ Dalai Lama XIV,
9:All the dogmatists have been terrified by the lion’s roar of shunyata. Wherever they may reside, shunyata lies in wait!
Nagarjuna: Master of Wisdom: Writitngs of the Buddhist Mastar Nagarjuna ~ N g rjuna,
10:If you desire ease, forsake learning.  If you desire learning, forsake ease.  How can the man at his ease acquire knowledge,  And how can the earnest student enjoy ease? ~ Nagarjuna, The Tree of Wisdom (About 100 BC),
11:Just as one comes to ruin Through wrong eating but obtains Long life, freedom from disease, Strength, and pleasures through right eating, So one comes to ruin Through wrong understanding But attains happiness and highest enlightenment Through right understanding. —NAGARJUNA’S PRECIOUS GARLAND OF ADVICE ~ Dalai Lama XIV,
12:The great ideal of Mahayana Buddhism is to remain in this world, so tempting and full of snares, but at the same time attain this awareness of the Absolute which underlies it, thus remaining free while helping others to free themselves. Nagarjuna captures the essence of this state when he proclaims, There is no difference at all between samsara and nirvana; ~ Anonymous,
13:To say 'I want to have sex with this person' is to express a desire which is not intellectually directed in the way that 'I want to eradicate poverty in the world' is an intellectually directed desire. Furthernore, the gratification of sexual desire can only ever give temporary satisfaction. Thus as Nagarjuna, the great Indian scholar said: 'When you have an itch, you scratch. But not to itch at all is better than any amount of scratching. ~ Dalai Lama XIV,
14:To take the last issue, the difficult issue, first. The first great Dharma systems, East and West, all arose, without exception, in the so-called “axial period” (Karl Jaspers), that rather extraordinary period beginning around the 6th century B.C. (plus or minus several centuries), a period that saw the birth of Gautama Buddha, Lao Tzu, Confucius, Moses, Plato, Patanjali—a period that would soon give way, over the next few centuries, to include Ashvaghosa, Nagarjuna, Plotinus, Jesus, Philo, Valentinus…. Virtually all of the major tenets of the perennial philosophy were first laid down during this amazing era (in Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity….) ~ Ken Wilber, Integral Life, right-bucks,
15:Tud ön a rossz elragadtatásában követni? Vérfagyasztó tévedés áldozatai vagyunk. Ó, boldogtalan Mirabel! Mind azt hiszik, hogy a rossz hasznosabb, mint a jó, erre mind rosszak lesznek. De ez nem elég. Mind azt hiszik, hogy a rossz érdekesebb, mint a jó, erre mind a rosszra rendezkednek be, sőt büszkék rá. De még ez sem elég. Mind azt hiszik, hogy a rossz a realitás, erre a jót elnevezik idealizmusnak, és elméletet csinálnak. Ez a hármas borzalom. Érti? Mert én nem értem.
Tudja mi ez? Ellenállás nélkül minden megy tovább. Mintha semmi sem történt volna. Mintha Lao-ce és Hérakleitosz, Buddha és Szókratész, Nagarjuna és Shankaracharya és rabbi Hillél és Plótinosz és Bruno és Ramakrishna szájukat se nyitották volna ki soha. Ami van, az a zsarnokok és az őrültek és a gazfickók, a forradalmak és a háborúk és a börtönök és a munkatáborok. Ami ezen kívül van, az idealizmus. Nem történt semmi. Sem Echnaton, sem Saint-Exupéry nem szólt egy szót sem. Minden megy tovább az atombomba útján. Nincs ellenállás. Mintha semmi sem történt volna, és ezt a valamit hívják realitásnak, ezt a minden megrázkódtatásnál erősebbet és hatalmasabbat és következetesebbet hívják realitásnak, minden elvnél és áldozatnál és hajmeresztőnél és Golgotánál hatalmasabbat hívják realitásnak, ezt a széptől és nagytól és igazságtól és békétől való elhagyatottságot hívják realitásnak, azt a sötét gödröt amelybe minden keservesen kiküzdött világosság elmerül, amelybe senkinek sincs betekintése, amit senki nem ismer, ezt hívják realitásnak, amely túl van minden emberin, nem könyörületes, nem könyörtelen, nem jó és nem rossz, nem közömbös és nem résztvevő, ezt hívják realitásnak, térdre, gyarló Mirabel, hiába imádkozol, ez a realitás és ez marad. Álmaim végén vagyok. ~ B la Hamvas,
16:The majority of Buddhists and Buddhist teachers in the West are green postmodern pluralists, and thus Buddhism is largely interpreted in terms of the green altitude and the pluralistic value set, whereas the greatest Buddhist texts are all 2nd tier, teal (Holistic) or higher (for example, Lankavatara Sutra, Kalachakra Tantra, Longchenpa's Kindly Bent to Ease Us, Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka treatises, and so forth).

This makes teal (Holistic), or Integral 2nd tier in general, the lowest deeply adequate level with which to interpret Buddhism, ultimate Reality, and Suchness itself. Thus, interpreting Suchness in pluralistic terms (or lower) would have to be viewed ultimately as a dysfunction, certainly a case of arrested development, and one requiring urgent attention in any Fourth Turning.

These are some of the problems with interpreting states (in this case, Suchness states) with a too-low structure (in short, a severe misinterpretation and thus misunderstanding of the Ultimate). As for interpreting them with dysfunctional structures (of any altitude), the problem more or less speaks for itself. Whether the structure in itself is high enough or not, any malformation of the structure will be included in the interpretation of any state (or any other experience), and hence will deform the interpretation itself, usually in the same basic ways as the structure itself is deformed. Thus, for example, if there is a major Fulcrum-3 (red altitude) repression of various bodily states (sex, aggression, power, feelings), those repressions will be interpreted as part of the higher state itself, and so the state will thus be viewed as devoid of (whereas this is actually a repression of) any sex, aggression, power, feelings, or whatever it is that is dis-owned and pushed into the repressed submergent unconscious. If there is an orange altitude problem with self-esteem (Fulcrum-5), that problem will be magnified by the state experience, and the more intense the state experience, the greater the magnification. Too little self-esteem, and even profound spiritual experiences can be interpreted as "I'm not worthy, so this state-which seems to love me unconditionally-must be confused." If too much self-esteem, higher experiences are misinterpreted, not as a transcendence of the self, but as a reward for being the amazing self I am-"the wonder of being me." ~ Ken Wilber, The Religion Of Tomorrow,

IN CHAPTERS [5/5]



   1 Buddhism






1.02 - Taras Tantra, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Integral Yoga
  disciple Hayagosha who passed it on to Nagarjuna. It
  is because of the Tara practice that he attained

2.14 - The Unpacking of God, #Sex Ecology Spirituality, #Ken Wilber, #Philosophy
  Long ago Nagarjuna devastated such approaches, pointing out that holistic or atomistic, or both or neither, are all beside the point (and, he added, they're all false anyway). It is the radical deconstruction of all conceptualizations whatsoever that paves the way for pure intuition (prajna) of Shunyata (Emptiness or Openness). If we meet even the Buddha and are supposed to kill him, guess how holism will fare.
  Thus, however true the original intuition of Spirit is (and I do not doubt that it is true), it is not facilitated by an interpretation that reduces all of Spirit's dimensions merely to the Right-Hand path, merely to descriptions of the great interlocking order (even if those descriptions are true enough).2 Those interpretations, taken in and by themselves, block the transformative event; those interpretations, driven originally by a true intuition of the very Divine, do not facilitate the further descent of that Divine; those interpretations are unskillful to midwife the birth of Spirit (which is nonetheless the original source of what turns out to be less-than-adequate interpretations).
  --
  A general theme running throughout the Idealist writers-and indeed, a theme found in virtually all of the mystically or contemplatively oriented philosopher-sages the world over-is that finite things, finite holons, are somehow profoundly lacking, or even profoundly contradictory, in and of themselves. "All finite things are contradictory," as Hegel put it. Nagarjuna would maintain the same for all finite phenomena (both thought and things are self-contradictory). From Eckhart to Bradley, from Shankara to Ramana, from Abinavagupta to
  Gaudapada-the general notion is that, as Hegel put it, "All things in themselves are contradictory."
  --
  I mention all of this because, as I said, virtually every mystically oriented philosopher ends up making some sort of these types of statements-none, perhaps, with more exuberance than Francis Bradley: "Relation, cause, space, time, thing, and self are self-contradictory." And Nagarjuna's powerful dialectic is an intense and unrelenting bearing-down on every single category of thought imaginable, all with the same result: they are totally selfcontradictory and, if consistently pressed, they totally self-destruct (leaving Emptiness, leaving the formless infinite; the deconstruction of the phenomenal leaves prajna).
  The deconstructionists have picked up certain of these lines of thought (mostly from Hegel, whom Derrida uncharacteristically treats with much respect), but after Bradley and Nagarjuna, the deconstructionists are very thin soup indeed, and, depressingly, they almost always miss the punch line: if you don't want to be a complete selfcontradiction, then you must rest in infinity.
  But admittedly, the philosopher-sages' explanations of why all holons are "self-contradictory" are not very clear, and have caused a great deal of confusion. I think the situation can be explained more easily and a bit more clearly.
  --
  Now the real reason I mention all these examples of the IOU principle, and the real reason the mystically oriented philosopher-sages are always bringing it up (Hegel to Bradley to Nagarjuna to Shankara), is very simple:
  Addition 3: All IOUs are redeemed in Emptiness.
  --
  As Plotinus knew and Nagarjuna taught: always and always, the other world is this world rightly seen.
  This is a truly staggering synthesis and integration. (Credit for this type of developmental synthesis often goes to
  --
  But the crucial components have already been won through for us. The breakthrough to Nonduality has already been accomplished by Plotinus in the West and Nagarjuna in the East (and not them alone). And the evolutionary understanding of Nonduality has already been won by Schelling in the West and Aurobindo in the East (and not them alone). What they (and their many descendants) have accomplished is already the foundation for a World Federation and a council of all beings. And whereas they were, in their times, the rare and isolated, the average mode is now catching up with them: their paths can be ours, collectively, now.
  Much work, of course, remains to be done. But the foundation is there, it has been won through for us; the basics are in existence. These roads are open to us: roads present but untraveled; paths cut clear but not chosen.

BOOK I. -- PART I. COSMIC EVOLUTION, #The Secret Doctrine, #H P Blavatsky, #Theosophy
  an absolute eternal existence," says Aryasanga -- the rival of Nagarjuna.* In one sense it is Pradhana;
  which

Book of Imaginary Beings (text), #unset, #Anonymous, #Various
  to the monk Nagarjuna.
  We give an Indian legend set down by the Chinese pilgrim

Diamond Sutra 1, #unset, #Anonymous, #Various
  Shravasti: This was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kaushala. In his Maha Prajnaparamita Shastra, Nagarjuna says the city had a population of 900,000, and it overshadowed even Magadhas capital of Rajagriha during the fifth century B.C. Today, its ruins can be visited twenty kilometers west of the town of Balrampur on the train line between Lucknow and Gorakhpur. Some commentators say the citys name came from that of its founder, King Shravasta. Others say the name was derived from the sage Savattha, who lived there before the city was built.
  Anathapindada Garden in Jeta Forest: During the Buddhas day, there was a wealthy merchant in Shravasti named Sudatta. Since he often helped the unfortunate, he was called Anathapindada (the Benefactor). One day, while visiting his sons prospective in-laws in Rajagriha, Sudatta had the good fortune of hearing the Buddha speak and was so affected by what he heard that he invited the Bhagavan to Shravasti. But when Sudatta returned to find a suitable residence for the Buddha and his disciples, the only place that seemed to him sufficiently spacious and serene was the forested preserve of Crown Prince Jeta, two kilometers southwest of the city. When Sudatta inquired about buying it, the prince joked, Ill sell you whatever portion you can cover with gold. Taking the prince at his word, Sudatta went home and brought back enough gold to cover an area of two hundred acres that became known as Anathapindada Garden. Overcome by Sudattas sincerity, the prince donated the entire forest to the Buddhas congregation, and together the two men built a vihara, or monastery, where the Buddha could live and preach whenever he visited. These events are said to have occurred in the fourth year of the Buddhas ministry, or in 428 B.C. Altogether, the Buddha spent twenty-five rainy seasons at Jeta Vihara and delivered many of his most important sermons there. He also performed a series of miracles in Shravasti that were unique in his career, and it was also in Shravasti that he refuted the teachings of the leaders of other spiritual sects.

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