DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.649#0070
THE PRASANGA-MADHYAMIKA SHOOL. 45
kind only is entire extinction of personality, or the state
where the notion of ego ceases, where the outward and
inward man is destroyed. In this state, the Buddha has
assumed the body Dharmakaya, in which there is neither
beginning nor end; whilst in the Nirvana with remains
he has obtained only the Nirmanakaya body, in which,
though rendered impervious to outward impressions, he has
not yet thrown off habitual errors (the influence of passions),
of which nothing remains in the other kind of Nirvana.
The Prasangas admit as orthodox the greater part of
the hymns in the Tanjur, and those of the Sutras which
are contained in the Kanjur; in these, they say, the true
meaning of the word of the Buddha (viz. the Madhya-
mika doctrine) is explained. There exist a large number
of such books, the most important of which are the
seventeen books of the Prajnaparamita, then the Akshaya-
matinirdesa. the Samadhiraja, the Anavataptapariprichchha,
DharmasamgTti, the Sagarapariprichchha, the ManjusrT-
vikridita, the first chapter of the Eatnakuta, and the
chapter of Kasyapa, which is quoted by Nagarjuna and
his disciples in support of their dogmas.1
It is remarkable to see at what extravagances Buddhist
speculation has arrived by its tendency to follow abstract
ideas without the consideration of the limits presented
by bodily experience and the laws of nature. But the
case is rather not an isolated one; we meet instances of
analogous dreams in ancient and modern times.
1 Wassiljew in his examination of the most important Mahayana Sutras,
pp. 157-202, presents an analysis of the Manjusrivikrldita and the Ratnakiita.
kind only is entire extinction of personality, or the state
where the notion of ego ceases, where the outward and
inward man is destroyed. In this state, the Buddha has
assumed the body Dharmakaya, in which there is neither
beginning nor end; whilst in the Nirvana with remains
he has obtained only the Nirmanakaya body, in which,
though rendered impervious to outward impressions, he has
not yet thrown off habitual errors (the influence of passions),
of which nothing remains in the other kind of Nirvana.
The Prasangas admit as orthodox the greater part of
the hymns in the Tanjur, and those of the Sutras which
are contained in the Kanjur; in these, they say, the true
meaning of the word of the Buddha (viz. the Madhya-
mika doctrine) is explained. There exist a large number
of such books, the most important of which are the
seventeen books of the Prajnaparamita, then the Akshaya-
matinirdesa. the Samadhiraja, the Anavataptapariprichchha,
DharmasamgTti, the Sagarapariprichchha, the ManjusrT-
vikridita, the first chapter of the Eatnakuta, and the
chapter of Kasyapa, which is quoted by Nagarjuna and
his disciples in support of their dogmas.1
It is remarkable to see at what extravagances Buddhist
speculation has arrived by its tendency to follow abstract
ideas without the consideration of the limits presented
by bodily experience and the laws of nature. But the
case is rather not an isolated one; we meet instances of
analogous dreams in ancient and modern times.
1 Wassiljew in his examination of the most important Mahayana Sutras,
pp. 157-202, presents an analysis of the Manjusrivikrldita and the Ratnakiita.