A History of Indian Philosophy Part 20

[Footnote 1: I have ventured to translate "[email protected]_" in the sense of vasana in preference to Suzuki's "confused subjectivity" because [email protected] in the sense of vasana is not unfamiliar to the readers of such Buddhist works as [email protected]_. The word "subjectivity" seems to be too European a term to be used as a word to represent the Buddhist sense.]

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subjectively does not exist by itself, that the negation (_s'unyata_) is also void (_s'unya_) in its nature, that neither that which is negated nor that which negates is an independent ent.i.ty. It is the pure soul that manifests itself as eternal, permanent, immutable, and completely holds all things within it. On that account it may be called affirmation. But yet there is no trace of affirmation in it, because it is not the product of the creative instinctive memory ([email protected]_) of conceptual thought and the only way of grasping the truth--the thatness, is by transcending all conceptual creations.

"The soul as birth and death ([email protected]_) comes forth from the Tathagata womb (_tathagatagarbha_), the ultimate reality.

But the immortal and the mortal coincide with each other.

Though they are not identical they are not duality either. Thus when the absolute soul a.s.sumes a relative aspect by its self-affirmation it is called the all-conserving mind (_alayavijnana_).

It embraces two principles, (1) enlightenment, (2) non-enlightenment.

Enlightenment is the perfection of the mind when it is free from the corruptions of the creative instinctive incipient memory ([email protected]_). It penetrates all and is the unity of all (_dharmadhatu_). That is to say, it is the universal dharmakaya of all Tathagatas const.i.tuting the ultimate foundation of existence.

"When it is said that all consciousness starts from this fundamental truth, it should not be thought that consciousness had any real origin, for it was merely phenomenal existence--a mere imaginary creation of the perceivers under the influence of the delusive [email protected] The mult.i.tude of people (_bahujana_) are said to be lacking in enlightenment, because ignorance (_avidya_) prevails there from all eternity, because there is a constant succession of [email protected] (past confused memory working as instinct) from which they have never been emanc.i.p.ated. But when they are divested of this [email protected] they can then recognize that no states of mentation, viz. their appearance, presence, change and disappearance, have any reality. They are neither in a temporal nor in a spatial relation with the one soul, for they are not self-existent.

"This high enlightenment shows itself imperfectly in our corrupted phenomenal experience as prajna (wisdom) and karma (incomprehensible activity of life). By pure wisdom we understand that when one, by virtue of the perfuming power of dharma, disciplines himself truthfully (i.e. according to the dharma), and accomplishes meritorious deeds, the mind (i.e. the _alayavijnana_)

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which implicates itself with birth and death will be broken down and the modes of the evolving consciousness will be annulled, and the pure and the genuine wisdom of the Dharmakaya will manifest itself. Though all modes of consciousness and mentation are mere products of ignorance, ignorance in its ultimate nature is identical and non-identical with enlightenment; and therefore ignorance is in one sense destructible, though in another sense it is indestructible. This may be ill.u.s.trated by the simile of the water and the waves which are stirred up in the ocean. Here the water can be said to be both identical and non-identical with the waves. The waves are stirred up by the wind, but the water remains the same. When the wind ceases the motion of the waves subsides, but the water remains the same. Likewise when the mind of all creatures, which in its own nature is pure and clean, is stirred up by the wind of ignorance (_avidya_), the waves of mentality (_vijnana_) make their appearance. These three (i.e.

the mind, ignorance, and mentality) however have no existence, and they are neither unity nor plurality. When the ignorance is annihilated, the awakened mentality is tranquillized, whilst the essence of the wisdom remains unmolested." The truth or the enlightenment "is absolutely un.o.btainable by any modes of relativity or by any outward signs of enlightenment. All events in the phenomenal world are reflected in enlightenment, so that they neither pa.s.s out of it, nor enter into it, and they neither disappear nor are destroyed." It is for ever cut off from the hindrances both affectional ([email protected]_) and intellectual ([email protected]_), as well as from the mind (i.e. _alayavijnana_) which implicates itself with birth and death, since it is in its true nature clean, pure, eternal, calm, and immutable. The truth again is such that it transforms and unfolds itself wherever conditions are favourable in the form of a tathagata or in some other forms, in order that all beings may be induced thereby to bring their virtue to maturity.

"Non-elightenment has no existence of its own aside from its relation with enlightenment _a priori_." But enlightenment _a priori_ is spoken of only in contrast to non-enlightenment, and as non-enlightenment is a non-ent.i.ty, true enlightenment in turn loses its significance too. They are distinguished only in mutual relation as enlightenment or non-enlightenment. The manifestations of non-enlightenment are made in three ways: (1) as a disturbance of the mind (_alayavijnana_), by the avidyakarma (ignorant

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action), producing misery ([email protected]_); (2) by the appearance of an ego or of a perceiver; and (3) by the creation of an external world which does not exist in itself, independent of the perceiver. Conditioned by the unreal external world six kinds of phenomena arise in succession. The first phenomenon is intelligence (sensation); being affected by the external world the mind becomes conscious of the difference between the agreeable and the disagreeable.

The second phenomenon is succession. Following upon intelligence, memory retains the sensations, agreeable as well as disagreeable, in a continuous succession of subjective states.

The third phenomenon is clinging. Through the retention and succession of sensations, agreeable as well as disagreeable, there arises the desire of clinging. The fourth phenomenon is an attachment to names or ideas ([email protected]_), etc. By clinging the mind hypostatizes all names whereby to give definitions to all things.

The fifth phenomenon is the performance of deeds (_karma_). On account of attachment to names, etc., there arise all the variations of deeds, productive of individuality. "The sixth phenomenon is the suffering due to the fetter of deeds. Through deeds suffering arises in which the mind finds itself entangled and curtailed of its freedom." All these phenomena have thus sprung forth through avidya.

The relation between this truth and avidya is in one sense a mere ident.i.ty and may be ill.u.s.trated by the simile of all kinds of pottery which though different are all made of the same clay [Footnote ref 1]. Likewise the undefiled (_anasrava_) and ignorance (_avidya_) and their various transient forms all come from one and the same ent.i.ty. Therefore Buddha teaches that all beings are from all eternity abiding in [email protected]

It is by the touch of ignorance (_avidya_) that this truth a.s.sumes all the phenomenal forms of existence.

In the all-conserving mind (_alayavijnana_) ignorance manifests itself; and from non-enlightenment starts that which sees, that which represents, that which apprehends an objective world, and that which constantly particularizes. This is called ego (_manas_).

Five different names are given to the ego (according to its different modes of operation). The first name is activity-consciousness (_karmavijnana_) in the sense that through the agency of ignorance an unenlightened mind begins to be disturbed (or

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[Footnote 1: Compare Chandogya, VI. 1. 4.]

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awakened). The second name is evolving-consciousness ([email protected]_) in the sense that when the mind is disturbed, there evolves that which sees an external world. The third name is representation-consciousness in the sense that the ego (_manas_} represents (or reflects) an external world. As a clean mirror reflects the images of all description, it is even so with the representation-consciousness. When it is confronted, for instance, with the objects of the five senses, it represents them instantaneously and without effort. The fourth is particularization-consciousness, in the sense that it discriminates between different things defiled as well as pure. The fifth name is succession-consciousness, in the sense that continuously directed by the awakening consciousness of attention (_manaskara_) it (_manas_) retains all experiences and never loses or suffers the destruction of any karma, good as well as evil, which had been sown in the past, and whose retribution, painful or agreeable, it never fails to mature, be it in the present or in the future, and also in the sense that it unconsciously recollects things gone by and in imagination antic.i.p.ates things to come. Therefore the three domains (_kamaloka_, domain of feeling--_rupaloka_, domain of bodily existence--_arupaloka_, domain of incorporeality) are nothing but the self manifestation of the mind (i.e. _alayavijnana_ which is practically identical with _bhutatathata_). Since all things, owing the principle of their existence to the mind (_alayavijnana_), are produced by [email protected], all the modes of particularization are the self-particularizations of the mind. The mind in itself (or the soul) being however free from all attributes is not differentiated. Therefore we come to the conclusion that all things and conditions in the phenomenal world, hypostatized and established only through ignorance (_avidya_) and memory ([email protected]_), have no more reality than the images in a mirror. They arise simply from the ideality of a particularizing mind. When the mind is disturbed, the multiplicity of things is produced; but when the mind is quieted, the multiplicity of things disappears.

By ego-consciousness (_manovijnana_) we mean the ignorant mind which by its succession-consciousness clings to the conception of I and Not-I and misapprehends the nature of the six objects of sense. The ego-consciousness is also called separation-consciousness, because it is nourished by the perfuming influence of the prejudices (_asrava_), intellectual as well as affectional. Thus believing in the external world produced by memory, the mind becomes

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oblivious of the principle of sameness (_samata_) that underlies all things which are one and perfectly calm and tranquil and show no sign of becoming.

Non-enlightenment is the _raison d'etre_ of samsara. When this is annihilated the conditions--the external world--are also annihilated and with them the state of an interrelated mind is also annihilated. But this annihilation does not mean the annihilation of the mind but of its modes only. It becomes calm like an unruffled sea when all winds which were disturbing it and producing the waves have been annihilated.

In describing the relation of the interaction of avidya (ignorance), karmavijnana (activity-consciousness--the subjective mind), [email protected] (external world--represented by the senses) and the tathata (suchness), As'vaghosa says that there is an interperfuming of these elements. Thus As'vaghosa says, "By perfuming we mean that while our worldly clothes (viz. those which we wear) have no odour of their own, neither offensive nor agreeable, they can yet acquire one or the other odour according to the nature of the substance with which they are perfumed. Suchness (_tathata_) is likewise a pure dharma free from all defilements caused by the perfuming power of ignorance. On the other hand ignorance has nothing to do with purity. Nevertheless we speak of its being able to do the work of purity because it in its turn is perfumed by suchness.

Determined by suchness ignorance becomes the _raison d'etre_ of all forms of defilement. And this ignorance perfumes suchness and produces [email protected] This [email protected] in its turn perfumes ignorance.

On account of this (reciprocal) perfuming, the truth is misunderstood.

On account of its being misunderstood an external world of subjectivity appears. Further, on account of the perfuming power of memory, various modes of individuation are produced.

And by clinging to them various deeds are done, and we suffer as the result miseries mentally as well as bodily." Again "suchness perfumes ignorance, and in consequence of this perfuming the individual in subjectivity is caused to loathe the misery of birth and death and to seek after the blessing of Nirvana. This longing and loathing on the part of the subjective mind in turn perfumes suchness. On account of this perfuming influence we are enabled to believe that we are in possession within ourselves of suchness whose essential nature is pure and immaculate; and we also recognize that all phenomena in the world are nothing

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but the illusory manifestations of the mind (_alayavijnana_) and have no reality of their own. Since we thus rightly understand the truth, we can practise the means of liberation, can perform those actions which are in accordance with the dharma. We should neither particularize, nor cling to objects of desire. By virtue of this discipline and habituation during the lapse of innumerable [email protected] [Footnote ref 1] we get ignorance annihilated. As ignorance is thus annihilated, the mind (_alayavijnana_) is no longer disturbed, so as to be subject to individuation. As the mind is no longer disturbed, the particularization of the surrounding world is annihilated. When in this wise the principle and the condition of defilement, their products, and the mental disturbances are all annihilated, it is said that we attain [email protected] and that various spontaneous displays of activity are accomplished." The [email protected] of the tathata philosophy is not nothingness, but tathata (suchness or thatness) in its purity una.s.sociated with any kind of disturbance which produces all the diversity of experience.

To the question that if all beings are uniformly in possession of suchness and are therefore equally perfumed by it, how is it that there are some who do not believe in it, while others do, [email protected]'s reply is that though all beings are uniformly in possession of suchness, the intensity of ignorance and the principle of individuation, that work from all eternity, vary in such manifold grades as to outnumber the sands of the Ganges, and hence the difference. There is an inherent perfuming principle in one's own being which, embraced and protected by the love (_maitri_) and compa.s.sion ([email protected]_) of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, is caused to loathe the misery of birth and death, to believe in [email protected], to cultivate the root of merit (_kus'alamula_), to habituate oneself to it and to bring it to maturity. In consequence of this, one is enabled to see all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and, receiving instructions from them, is benefited, gladdened and induced to practise good deeds, etc., till one can attain to Buddhahood and enter into [email protected] This implies that all beings have such perfuming power in them that they may be affected by the good wishes of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas for leading them to the path of virtue, and thus it is that sometimes hearing the Bodhisattvas and sometimes seeing them, "all beings thereby acquire (spiritual) benefits (_hitata_)" and "entering into the samadhi of purity, they

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[Footnote 1: Technical name for a very vast period of time.]

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destroy hindrances wherever they are met with and obtain all-penetrating insight that enables them to become conscious of the absolute oneness (_samata_) of the universe (_sarvaloka_) and to see innumerable Buddhas and Bodhisattvas."

There is a difference between the perfuming which is not in unison with suchness, as in the case of s'ravakas (theravadin monks), pratyekabuddhas and the novice bodhisattvas, who only continue their religious discipline but do not attain to the state of non-particularization in unison with the essence of suchness.

But those bodhisattvas whose perfuming is already in unison with suchness attain to the state of non-particularization and allow themselves to be influenced only by the power of the dharma.

The incessant perfuming of the defiled dharma (ignorance from all eternity) works on, but when one attains to Buddhahood one at once puts an end to it. The perfuming of the pure dharma (i.e. suchness) however works on to eternity without any interruption.

For this suchness or thatness is the effulgence of great wisdom, the universal illumination of the dharmadhatu (universe), the true and adequate knowledge, the mind pure and clean in its own nature, the eternal, the blessed, the self-regulating and the pure, the tranquil, the inimitable and the free, and this is called the tathagatagarbha or the dharmakaya. It may be objected that since thatness or suchness has been described as being without characteristics, it is now a contradiction to speak of it as embracing all merits, but it is held, that in spite of its embracing all merits, it is free in its nature from all forms of distinction, because all objects in the world are of one and the same taste; and being of one reality they have nothing to do with the modes of particularization or of dualistic character. "Though all things in their (metaphysical) origin come from the soul alone and in truth are free from particularization, yet on account of non-enlightenment there originates a subjective mind (_alayavijnana_) that becomes conscious of an external world." This is called ignorance or avidya. Nevertheless the pure essence of the mind is perfectly pure and there is no awakening of ignorance in it. Hence we a.s.sign to suchness this quality, the effulgence of great wisdom. It is called universal illumination, because there is nothing for it to illumine. This perfuming of suchness therefore continues for ever, though the stage of the perfuming of avidya comes to an end with the Buddhas when they attain to [email protected] All Buddhas while at

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the stage of discipline feel a deep compa.s.sion ([email protected]_) for all beings, practise all virtues (_paramitas_) and many other meritorious deeds, treat others as their own selves, and wish to work out a universal salvation of mankind in ages to come, through limitless numbers of _kalpas_, recognize truthfully and adequately the principle of equality (_samata_)among people; and do not cling to the individual existence of a sentient being. This is what is meant by the activity of tathata. The main idea of this tathata philosophy seems to be this, that this transcendent "thatness" is at once the quintessence of all thought and activity; as avidya veils it or perfumes it, the world-appearance springs forth, but as the pure thatness also perfumes the avidya there is a striving for the good as well. As the stage of avidya is pa.s.sed its luminous character shines forth, for it is the ultimate truth which only illusorily appeared as the many of the world.

This doctrine seems to be more in agreement with the view of an absolute unchangeable reality as the ultimate truth than that of the nihilistic idealism of [email protected]_. Considering the fact that [email protected] was a learned Brahmin scholar in his early life, it is easy to guess that there was much [email protected] influence in this interpretation of Buddhism, which compares so favourably with the Vedanta as interpreted by [email protected] The [email protected]_ admitted a reality only as a make-believe to attract the Tairthikas (heretics) who had a prejudice in favour of an unchangeable self (_atman_). But [email protected] plainly admitted an unspeakable reality as the ultimate truth. Nagarjuna's Madhyamika doctrines which eclipsed the profound philosophy of [email protected] seem to be more faithful to the traditional Buddhist creed and to the Vijnanavada creed of Buddhism as explained in the [email protected] [Footnote ref 1].

The Madhyamika or the S'untavada school.--Nihilism.

Candrakirtti, the commentator of Nagarjuna's verses known as "_Madhyamika karika_," in explaining the doctrine of dependent origination (_prat.i.tyasamutpada_) as described by Nagarjuna starts with two interpretations of the word. According to one the word prat.i.tyasamutpada means the origination (_utpada_) of the nonexistent (_abhava_) depending on (_prat.i.tya_) reasons and causes

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[Footnote 1: As I have no access to the Chinese translation of [email protected]'s _S'raddhotpada S'astra_, I had to depend entirely on Suzuki's expressions as they appear in his translation.]

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(hetupratyaya). According to the other interpretation prat.i.tya means each and every destructible individual and prat.i.tyasamutpada means the origination of each and every destructible individual.

But he disapproves of both these meanings. The second meaning does not suit the context in which the Pali Scriptures generally speak of prat.i.tyasamutpada (e.g. [email protected]@h prat.i.tya rupani ca utpadyante [email protected]_) for it does not mean the origination of each and every destructible individual, but the originating of specific individual phenomena (e.g. perception of form by the operation in connection with the eye) depending upon certain specific conditions.