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THE JOURN LOF THE INTERN TION L SSOCI TION OF

BUDDHIST STUDIES

E D I T O R I N C H I E FA.K. Narain

University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA

E D I T O R SL.M.Joshi

Punjabi UniversityPatiaUi,India

Alexander W. MacdonaldUniversitedeParis X

Nanterre, FranceHardwellSmithCarleton College

Northjield Minnesota, USA

Ernst SteinkellnerUniversityof Vienna

Wien, AustriaJikido Takasaki

Un iversity of TokyoTokyo,Japan

Robert ThurmanAmherstCollege

Amherst Ma ssachusetts, USAA S S I S T A N T E D I T O R

Roger JacksonUniversity of Michigan

Ann Arbor Michigan, USA

Volume 8 1985 Number I

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C O N T E N T S

I . A R T I C L E SJ . Nag a r juna ' s A rgu m en t s Aga ins t Mot ion ,byK amaleswarBhattacharya 72 . Dharani a n dPratibhdna:M emory and E loquence o f t heBodhisa t tvas ,by JensBraarvig 173 . T h e Co ncep t o f a Crea to r Go d in Tan t r i c Bu ddh i sm ,

byEva K . Dargyay 3 14 . Direct Pe rcep t ion (Pratyakja) in dGe- iugs -pa In t e rp r e t at io n s o f S a u t r a n t i k a , ^ / l n w ^ C . Klein 4 95. A Text -H is tor ica l No te onHevajratantra I I :v: 1-2,bylj onardW .J. vanderKu ijp 8 36. S im ul tan eou s Rela tion (Sahabhu-hetu):A Study in B uddh i s t Th eory o f Cau sa t ion ,byKennethK.Tanaka 91

I I . B O O K R E V IE W S A N D N O T I C E S

Reviews:1. TheBookso/Kiu- Teor theTibetan Buddh ist Tan tras: A PreliminaryAnalysis,by Dav id Re igleDzog Chenand Zen,by Na m kha i No rbu(Roger Jack son ) 1132 . Nagarjuniana. Studies intheWritings andPhilosophy ofNdgdrjuna, by Ch r . L in d tn e r(Fe rn and o Tola and C a rm en Dragone t t i ) 1153 . SelflessPersons:Imageryand Thought in TheravadaBud-dhism,by Stev en Co llins(Vijitha Ra japa kse ) 117

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4 . Self and Non-Self in Early Buddhism, by Jo aq uin Perez-R e m o n(Vij i thaRajapkse) 1225. The W orld of Buddhism,edi ted by He inz Bech er t an dRichard Gombr ich(Rog er Jack son ) 126

Notices:1. Tibetan Blockprints intheDepartment of RareBooksand SpecialCollections,com pi l ed by L eon ardZwilling(Rena H agga r ty) 134O B I T U A R Y 1 3 5L I S T O F C O N T R I B U T O R S 13 8

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R E V I E W S 117quota t ions o f Yukti atfikd's stanzas (19, 33 , 34 and 39) , tha t a refound in other authors ' works. We think i t is useful that weindica te now the other quota t ions tha t Professor Lindtner pointsou t . T he y a r e : stanza 1 in Sekoddesatfkd, p. 48 (ed. M.E. Carel l i ,Baroda , 1941) ; stanza 5 in Aryadeva , Cittavisuddhiprakarand, 24(ed. Patel) ; stanza 6 in Ratnaklrtinibandhdvall, p . 139 (ed, A.Thakur , Pa tna , 1975) ;stanza 30 in Subhdsjtasamgraha, p. 385 (ed.C. Bendal l , Le Museon, N.S. IV, 1903, p . 385) , and Nydyavinis-cayavivarana II , p p . 1 7- 18 (ed. M.K. Ja in) both with varian ts;stanzas 46-48 in Ha r i bha d r a ' s J4/OA

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118 J I A B S V O L . 8 N O . 1on selfhood an d perso nal i ty that is offered he re actual ly pro ce ed son the assu m pt ion tha t th is th ink ing is en t i re ly a l ien to W esternideas and bel iefs.

W ha t Coll ins un de rta ke s in this boo k is certainly a newacc oun t of a famil iar doc tr in e ; for he de pa rts notably fromtradi t ional pat terns of exegesis. I t must be also observed thatthe re is m uc h tha t is con trove rsial in his discussion s; w he th er hisconclusions are always persuasive is l ikely to be very much disputed , especia l ly by Theravada bel ievers . In any event , readerswould do well to recognize that despi te professions of aphilosophical intent , this account is not developed on the basisof a s imple considerat ion of the in terpreta t ive cr i ter ia associa tedwi th log ic and phi losophy. The au thor bel ieves in the ex is tenceof subt le l inks between rel igious doctr ines and society, ideas andthe i r background . Hence , t he app roaches adop ted in r ecen tsocio logical and an thropological explanat ions of re l ig ion in general and Buddhism in par t icu lar are consciously drawn in to thediscuss ions in th is book. Indeed , some of Col l ins ' more notab lecla ims an d in te rpre ta t io ns (as , for ex am ple , the asser tion thatthe Bu dd his t den ial of th e self is a l inguistic tab oo ge are d top rov ide in t rans igen t symbo li c oppos i t ion to Bra hm in i sm , o raga in the a rg um en t s tha t supp or t h i s e luc ida tion of Th era va daimagery), al l s tem in the main from the adoption of sociological lyinsp i red approaches . And , s t r ik ing ly enough , wha t under l i esthese app roa ch es is the view that Bu ddh ism 's in for m ing ideasinvariably touc h up o n or are ad dre sse d to social ly deriv ed concern s . Now it is no t impossib le to en ter ta in rese rvat ions reg ard ing methodological perspect ives of th is k ind; some Theravadascholars m ight pe rh ap s feel that Col lins ' ap pro ac he s f requent lylead to an improper ex ter ior izat ion of the products of a t rad i t ionof rel igious thin ki ng wh ose basis is af ter all pre -em ine ntly inte rioror eso ter ic . Never theless ,Selfless Persons fully m eri ts careful at te nt ion, for i ts discussions bear witness to the applicat ion of interesting new viewpoints; besides, these discussions are on the wholesuppor ted by a ra ther impress ive rev iew of Pal i tex tual sourcesthat deal wi th the anattd doc t r ine .T h e m ain co nte n ts of th is book (which fo llow an in t rod ucto ryclarif icat ion of i ts aims) ar e pre se nte d in fou r pa rts or ga nize dunder a to ta l o f e ight chapters . The f i rs t par t p repares in largemeasure the background to the s tudy , and deals wi th the cu l turaland social set t ing of Buddhist thought . I ts focus fal ls ini t ial ly onpre-B udd h i s t (Brahman ica l ) i deas tha t i n f luenced Bu ddh i sm(samsara , karma and the l ike) and then sh i f t s to a considerat ion

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R E V I E W S 119of the overa l l f ramew ork wi thin which se l f and pe rso n cam eto be viewed by Buddhism itself. The discussions in the nextth ree pa r t s o f the book revo lve a round Theravada th ink ing aswell as its exp ressio ns as they rela te to these lat ter subjects. T h u s ,Par t I I considers the doct r ine of non-self; Part III delves intothe quest ion of personal i ty and re-bi r th ; and Par t IV examinesthe not ion of cont inui ty . These discussions indeed serve to br ingto l ight some charac ter i s t ic fea tures of Therevada thought andim age ry; b ut wh at is very dist inctive of the t r ea tm en t of th e ab ovetopics is of co urs e the cons cious effort to forge l inks betw een themental and the social worlds of the Buddhists. Coll ins, to be sure,takes the view that Theravada texts which deal with selfhood andperso nal i ty, as well as the inte rp reta t io ns given to th em , are subtlyconnec ted wi th the ambien t background .

This l ine of thinking forms the basis for many of Coll ins*a rguments and in te rpre ta t ions . Thus , he rega rds a d i s t inc t ionwhich f igures in some later exposi t ions of the anatta doc t r ine ,namely tha t be tween convent iona l (samtnuti) an d u l t ima teiparamattha) t ruth to be the main m ean s by which Bu dd histintellectu alism has or ien ted itself in society an d cu ltu re (p. 147).Further, he discerns a specif ici ty in Buddhist imagery, the originsof which are t raced to the peasant society of South Asia. Theimages themselves are regarded as key s t ruc tures , providing access to the ingra ined fea tures of the Buddhist menta l i ty . According to Coll ins, the various strata of Buddhist society, from scholarly monks to peasant bel ievers, are actual ly uni ted into a singlecul tural world by this imagery.

Many pat terns of imagery found in the Pal i texts are ident if ied an d ex am ine d in the cours e of Collins stud y, an d som e ofthe de ta i l s h igh l ighted a re worth br ief not ice . T h u s, imageryassociated with houses and dwell ing places are held to play amajor role in the ent i re soter iologica l scheme of Buddhism,woven around the need to overcome the desi res tha t susta inexistence in samsara. Vil lage imagery, he f inds, sometimes repl ica tes house imagery, wi th an extended s imi le referr ing to theborder town l iable to a t tack. Some other emphases of Buddhism,acco rding to him, are conveyed wi th the he lp of vegeta t ion im agery drawn from the preoccupat ions of South Asian peasant agr icul tura l i s ts . Exam ples c i ted in th is con nect ion inc lu de roo tan d seed (used in ex pla na t ion s of causal i ty) , as well as r ip en ing an d frui t (used to br in g ou t the idea of effect or resu l t) .Coll ins observes perceptively that some of the f iner points ofTheravada th inking on the se l f a re ac tua l ly c lar i f ied through

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120 J I A B S V O L . 8 N O . 1image ry . T h e bu rn ing lam p-f lame, for exa m ple , is held for th asa classic means of bringing out the import of anatta, especiallyin re la t ion to the pros pec t of a life beyo nd, whi le s t ream s, r un ni ngwaters and moving char io ts are ident i f ied as images which h ighl ight continui ty (or in some instances, desire) . Last ly , water inthe deep or placid state is noted as an image that is commonlyinvoked to por t ra y the condi t ion of the m ind s t il led an d calmednot only of the disciple, but also of the Buddha himself.

Though Col l ins concedes in pass ing that some k inds ofBuddhis t imagery (s t reams in par t icu lar ) f igure in non-Buddhis tsystems, he doe s no t real ly favor cross -cul tura l co m pa riso n.W hat he seeks in s tead is t o und ers t a nd The rav ad a thoug h t a ndimage ry in i ts own term s (p . 25 8) . T h e ado pt ion of th is a t t i tud eactual ly leads h im to a t tempt a f i rm d isengagement of Buddhis taccou nts of ch an ge an d cont inui ty f rom W estern one s ( like thoseof He racl i tus an d Be rgson) , wi th which they are often co m pa red .These posi t ions, i t must be noted, are open to cri t icism. But ,then , many of h is f ind ings and conclusions regard ing the natureand the basis of the anatta doctr ine i tself are even often moreso. W hat m any com m en tato rs (especial ly those phi losophical lyincl ined) usual ly see in this do ctr i ne is an insightful inte rp ret at i onof our to ta l being . Such commentators are ap t to be a t t racted byi ts logical featur es abo ve every thin g else. T .H . Hu xley 's re m ar ksin his Evolution and Ethics (1894) exemplify this rather st r ikingly.Huxley hai led Buddhism's re ject ion of the not ion of an ab id ingsoul -substance as a metaph ysical tour deforce of great interestto the stu de nt of phi l oso ph y, an d he viewed this stanc e as arem arka ble ind icat ion of the subt lty of Ind ian specu lat ion . Yet ,what Coll ins recognizes here is f inal ly the product of a local isedcul tural imaginat ion . Not on ly does he incl ine towards the posi t ion that the anatta doc t r ine is co unte r in tu i t ive (and hen ce anunlikely vehicle for the rel igious aspirat ions of ordinary people) ,but he also m ainta ins tha t i t is B ud dh ist scholast icism whichhas ensured i t s surv ival by uphold ing i t as an unquest ionabledogma. And, as ind icated above, th is in tu rn prompts h im toass ign the cha racte r of a l inguist ic tabo o to the T he ra va da v iewof theself. Th e ro le it has perfo rm ed , he conte nd s , is symbolicthat of preserv ing the ident i ty and in tegr i ty of Buddhism as asys t em separa t e f rom Brahman ica l Hindu i sm.It is somewhat diff icul t to conceive of anyone without apenchant for a part icular kind of sociological explanat ion accepting many of the conclusions in Selfless Persons. Admirer s o fT he ra va da B ud dh ism can hard ly be fau l ted i f they get the imp res-

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R E V I E W S 121sion that the notably phi losoph ical cha racte r of theanattd doc t r ine(and i ts meaningfulness and considerable viabil i ty within an empiricist f ram ewo rk of tho ug ht) is unfair ly de-e m pha sized he re ino rd er to pave the way for a confide ntly redu ction ist , sociologicallyinspired account ing . Aspects of th is account ing as i t re la tes tobo th Theravada though t and imagery a re espec ia l ly vu lnerab leto cr i ticism. T hi s can be subs tant iate d by delvin g into a few d etails .I t migh t be a rgued , fo r example , tha t the p r inc ip le under lying the two tr u th s ne ed not , af ter all , be given an exclusivelysociologically-slanted interpretation. Collins himself identif ies i ta t on e poin t as a me tapsychological schem atizat ion (p . 156),an d a philosop hically in form ed in qu ire r is l ikely to disce rn twolevels of empir ical analysis here. I t should be observed that thereis a parallel of a sort to i t in the famous dist inction betweens ta tem en ts in the fo rmal and m ate r ia l m odes wh ich the contemporary ph i losopher Rudo lph Carnap has e labora ted in h i sLogical Syntax of Language. As r egards imagery , one may indeedconcede that it does p lay a cer ta in ro le in T he ra va da th ink ing .Yet there i s aga in some room to w ond er wh ethe r the im agesCollins highlights can be really called the unifying structures ofBuddhist culture and, s t i l l less, that they hold the keys to somehighly impor tan t but h i ther to unrecognized facts about the co llect ive T he ra va da psyche . As agains t Col l ins , on e may ind eedsay that what serves to unite Buddhists into a single culturalwor ld a re the though ts beh ind the images , r a ther than the imagesthemselves. In any case, i t is possible to dispute Collins ' tacitassum pt ion tha t T he rav ad a imagery is who lly s te reo typed . T h eimmensely inf luent ia l Dhammapada, for example, uses a r ich andvaried stock of images; and, s ignif icantly, they cannot be alwaysrelated to a narrow range of agricultural activit ies. Fletchers andtheir shafts , the herdsman and his kine, bees, f lowers and swansfigure in many of i ts famous couplets . I t should be recalled thatthe mind 's unste ady n at ur e is co m pa red he re to the w r igglingsof a fish taken out of water, an evocative, but still not typicallyagr icu l tu ral im age that could have issued f rom the m oul dsCollins ' account seems to set up. All in all , the l imitations ofCol l ins ' f ind ings on t he quest ion of imagery te nd to beco m e evenm ore ev iden t when o ne exam ines the ro le images p lay in a no the rinf luential religious tradit ion, the Christ ianity of the Gospels.Pastoral and agricultural activit ies, as well as the f ishing whichsusta ined West Asian peoples among whom Chr is t ian i ty or ig inated , have indeed lef t unmis takable impr in ts on the languageand the idiom of the Christ ian message set for th in the Gospels.

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