DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45392#0311
System of the Mahayana
Bodhisattvas enter upon their course “ out of compassion
to the world, for the benefit, weal, and happiness of the
world at large, both gods and men, for the sake of the
complete Nirvana of all beings. . . . Therefore they are
called Bodhisattva Mahasattva.” 1
A doctrine specially associated with the Bodhisattva
ideal is that of the parivarta or turning over of ethical
merit to the advantage of others, which amounts very
nearly to the doctrine of vicarious atonement. Whereas
in early Buddhism it is emphasized that each life is
entirely separate from every other (also a Jaina doctrine,
and no doubt derived from the Samkhya conception
of a plurality of Purushas), the Mahayana insists on
the interdependence and even the identity of all life; and
this position affords a logical basis for the view that
the merit acquired by one may be devoted to the good of
others. \ This is a peculiarly amiable feature in late
Buddhism; we find, for example, that whoever accom-
plishes a good deed, such as a work of charity or a
pilgrimage, adds the prayer that the merit may be shared
by all sentient beings.
It will be seen that the doctrine of vicarious merit involves
the interpretation of karma in the first and more general
sense referred to on page 108. No man lives to himself
alone, but we may regard the whole creation (which
groaneth and travailleth together) as one life and there-
fore as sharing a common karma, to which every indi-
vidual contributes for good or ill. Notwithstanding from
the individualist standpoint it may appear both false
and dangerous to limit the doctrine of purely individual
responsibility, it is not so in fact; the good or evil of the
individual also affects others, and rather increases his
1 Saddharmapundarlka Sutra.
231
Bodhisattvas enter upon their course “ out of compassion
to the world, for the benefit, weal, and happiness of the
world at large, both gods and men, for the sake of the
complete Nirvana of all beings. . . . Therefore they are
called Bodhisattva Mahasattva.” 1
A doctrine specially associated with the Bodhisattva
ideal is that of the parivarta or turning over of ethical
merit to the advantage of others, which amounts very
nearly to the doctrine of vicarious atonement. Whereas
in early Buddhism it is emphasized that each life is
entirely separate from every other (also a Jaina doctrine,
and no doubt derived from the Samkhya conception
of a plurality of Purushas), the Mahayana insists on
the interdependence and even the identity of all life; and
this position affords a logical basis for the view that
the merit acquired by one may be devoted to the good of
others. \ This is a peculiarly amiable feature in late
Buddhism; we find, for example, that whoever accom-
plishes a good deed, such as a work of charity or a
pilgrimage, adds the prayer that the merit may be shared
by all sentient beings.
It will be seen that the doctrine of vicarious merit involves
the interpretation of karma in the first and more general
sense referred to on page 108. No man lives to himself
alone, but we may regard the whole creation (which
groaneth and travailleth together) as one life and there-
fore as sharing a common karma, to which every indi-
vidual contributes for good or ill. Notwithstanding from
the individualist standpoint it may appear both false
and dangerous to limit the doctrine of purely individual
responsibility, it is not so in fact; the good or evil of the
individual also affects others, and rather increases his
1 Saddharmapundarlka Sutra.
231