DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.649#0053
28 T1IK HINAYAXA SYSTE5I.
on the contrary, admits all his followers to the full
blessings of his law.1
At the early period of the Hinayana system the list
of the different gradations must have been closed with
the Arhats, the Buddha even not being originally called
by another name; but in the progressive develop&ment
of this system the Arhat was superseded by the Pratyeka
Buddhas, the Bodhisattvas, and the most perfect Buddhas.
Pratyeka Buddhas are those men who, though attain-
ing by their own unaided exertions the Bodhi of the
supreme Buddhas, remain limited in their powers as well
as their intellects. They are unable to release any one
from the repetition of existence, as they only care for
their own salvation, without contributing in the least
towards that of other men. Pratyeka Buddhas are ac-
cordingly never said in the legends to have accom-
plished miraculous works similar to those of the supreme
Buddhas, and are further considered never to appear
when a real Buddha is living upon earth.2
Bodhisattvas are the candidates for the Buddhaship,
or those men who, by assiduity iu the practice of virtues
and meditation, have finally arrived at the intelligence,
or Bodhi, of the supreme Buddha. Whoever strives to
attain this sublime rank, has to pass through countless
phases of existence, during which he gradually accumu-
1 I shall have occasion, in the chapter on Tibetan priesthood, to resume
the admittance or non-admittance of this dogma by the various schools.—
About the Abhijnas, see Burnout', "Lc Lotus de la Bonne Loi," p. 820.
■ See Foe koue ki, English translation, pp. 10, 96, 158; Burnout's "In-
troduction." p. 207: Hardy's "Monachism," and "Manual,"' Index, voce Pase
Buddha.
on the contrary, admits all his followers to the full
blessings of his law.1
At the early period of the Hinayana system the list
of the different gradations must have been closed with
the Arhats, the Buddha even not being originally called
by another name; but in the progressive develop&ment
of this system the Arhat was superseded by the Pratyeka
Buddhas, the Bodhisattvas, and the most perfect Buddhas.
Pratyeka Buddhas are those men who, though attain-
ing by their own unaided exertions the Bodhi of the
supreme Buddhas, remain limited in their powers as well
as their intellects. They are unable to release any one
from the repetition of existence, as they only care for
their own salvation, without contributing in the least
towards that of other men. Pratyeka Buddhas are ac-
cordingly never said in the legends to have accom-
plished miraculous works similar to those of the supreme
Buddhas, and are further considered never to appear
when a real Buddha is living upon earth.2
Bodhisattvas are the candidates for the Buddhaship,
or those men who, by assiduity iu the practice of virtues
and meditation, have finally arrived at the intelligence,
or Bodhi, of the supreme Buddha. Whoever strives to
attain this sublime rank, has to pass through countless
phases of existence, during which he gradually accumu-
1 I shall have occasion, in the chapter on Tibetan priesthood, to resume
the admittance or non-admittance of this dogma by the various schools.—
About the Abhijnas, see Burnout', "Lc Lotus de la Bonne Loi," p. 820.
■ See Foe koue ki, English translation, pp. 10, 96, 158; Burnout's "In-
troduction." p. 207: Hardy's "Monachism," and "Manual,"' Index, voce Pase
Buddha.