Difference between revisions of "Abhidharma exegesis"
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− | [[Abhidharma exegesis]] evolved over a long period as both the agent and the product of a nascent and then increasingly disparate Buddhist sectarian self-consciousness. | + | [[Abhidharma exegesis]] evolved over a long period as both the agent and the product of a nascent and then increasingly disparate [[Buddhist]] {{Wiki|sectarian}} [[self-consciousness]]. |
− | Given the voluminous nature of even the surviving literature that provides a record of this long doctrinal history, any outline of abhidharma method must be content with sketching the most general contours and touching on a few representative examples. | + | Given the voluminous [[nature]] of even the surviving {{Wiki|literature}} that provides a record of this long [[doctrinal]] history, any outline of [[abhidharma]] method must be content with sketching the most general contours and [[touching]] on a few representative examples. |
− | Nonetheless, scanning the history of [[abhidharma]], one discerns a general course of development that in the end resulted in a complex interpretative edifice radically different from the [[sutras]] upon which it was believed to be based. | + | Nonetheless, scanning the history of [[abhidharma]], one discerns a general course of [[development]] that in the end resulted in a complex interpretative edifice radically different from the [[sutras]] upon which it was believed to be based. |
− | In its earliest stage, that is, as elaborative commentary, [[abhidharma]] was guided by the intention simply to clarify the content of the [[sutras]]. | + | In its earliest stage, that is, as elaborative commentary, [[abhidharma]] was guided by the [[intention]] simply to clarify the content of the [[sutras]]. |
− | Taxonomic lists were used as a mnemonic device facilitating oral preservation and transmission; catechetical investigation was employed in a teaching environment of oral commentary guided by the pedagogical technique of question and answer. | + | Taxonomic lists were used as a {{Wiki|mnemonic}} device facilitating oral preservation and [[transmission]]; [[catechetical]] [[investigation]] was employed in a [[teaching]] {{Wiki|environment}} of oral commentary guided by the pedagogical technique of question and answer. |
− | Over time, the taxonomic lists grew in complexity as the simpler lists presented in the [[sutra]] teachings were combined in new ways, and additional categories of qualitative analysis were created to specify modes of interaction among discrete aspects of the [[sutra]] teaching. | + | Over time, the taxonomic lists grew in complexity as the simpler lists presented in the [[sutra]] teachings were combined in new ways, and additional categories of qualitative analysis were created to specify modes of interaction among discrete aspects of the [[sutra]] [[teaching]]. |
− | The initially terse catechetical in-vestigation was expanded with discursive exposition and new methods of interpretation and argumenta-tion, which were demanded by an increasingly polem-ical environment. | + | The initially terse [[catechetical]] in-vestigation was expanded with discursive [[exposition]] and new [[methods]] of [[interpretation]] and argumenta-tion, which were demanded by an increasingly polem-ical {{Wiki|environment}}. |
− | These developments coincided with a move from oral to written methods of textual trans-mission and with the challenge presented by other Buddhist and non-Buddhist groups. | + | These developments coincided with a move from oral to written [[methods]] of textual trans-mission and with the challenge presented by other [[Buddhist]] and [[non-Buddhist]] groups. |
− | In its final stage, abhidharma texts became complex philosophical treatises employing sophisticated methods of argumenta-tion, whose purpose was the analysis and elaboration of doctrinal issues for their own sake. | + | In its final stage, [[abhidharma texts]] became complex [[philosophical]] treatises employing sophisticated [[methods]] of argumenta-tion, whose {{Wiki|purpose}} was the analysis and [[elaboration]] of [[doctrinal]] issues for their [[own]] [[sake]]. |
− | The very [[sutras]] from which abhidharma arose were now subordinated as mere statements in need of analysis that only the [[abhidharma]] could provide. No longer serving as the starting point for [[abhidharma]] exegesis, the [[sutras]] were | + | The very [[sutras]] from which [[abhidharma]] arose were now subordinated as mere statements in need of analysis that only the [[abhidharma]] could provide. No longer serving as the starting point for [[abhidharma]] {{Wiki|exegesis}}, the [[sutras]] were |
− | invoked only as a supplemental authority to buttress independent reasoned investigations or to corroborate doctrinal points actually far removed from their scriptural antecedents. | + | invoked only as a supplemental authority to buttress {{Wiki|independent}} reasoned investigations or to corroborate [[doctrinal]] points actually far removed from their [[scriptural]] antecedents. |
− | Abstract analysis, which is the guiding principle of abhidharma exegesis, also became the salient characteristic of its doctrinal interpretation. The analytical tendency, evident in lists present even in the [[sutras]], expanded in [[abhidharma]] to encompass all of experience. | + | Abstract analysis, which is the guiding [[principle]] of [[abhidharma]] {{Wiki|exegesis}}, also became the salient [[characteristic]] of its [[doctrinal]] [[interpretation]]. The analytical tendency, evident in lists {{Wiki|present}} even in the [[sutras]], expanded in [[abhidharma]] to encompass all of [[experience]]. |
− | In very simple terms, [[abhidharma]] attempts an exhaustive and systematic accounting of every possible type of experience in terms of its ultimate constituents. | + | In very simple terms, [[abhidharma]] attempts an exhaustive and systematic accounting of every possible type of [[experience]] in terms of its [[Wikipedia:Absolute (philosophy)|ultimate]] constituents. |
− | [[Abhidharma]] views experience with a critical analytical eye, breaking down the gross objects of ordinary perception into their constituent factors or [[dharmas]] and clarifying the causal interaction among these discrete factors. | + | [[Abhidharma]] [[views]] [[experience]] with a critical analytical [[eye]], breaking down the gross [[objects]] of [[ordinary perception]] into their constituent factors or [[dharmas]] and clarifying the causal interaction among these discrete factors. |
− | This analysis was not, however, motivated by simple abstract interest, but rather by a soteriological purpose at the very core of [[Buddhist]] religious praxis. | + | This analysis was not, however, motivated by simple abstract [[interest]], but rather by a [[soteriological]] {{Wiki|purpose}} at the very core of [[Buddhist]] [[religious]] praxis. |
− | Analysis determines the requisite factors of which each event consists, distinguishing those factors that lead to suffering and rebirth from those that contribute to their termination. This very process of analysis was identified with the insight that functions in religious praxis to cut off ensnaring factors and to cultivate those leading to liberation. | + | Analysis determines the requisite factors of which each event consists, distinguishing those factors that lead to [[suffering]] and [[rebirth]] from those that contribute to their termination. This very process of analysis was identified with the [[insight]] that functions in [[religious]] praxis to cut off ensnaring factors and to cultivate those leading to [[liberation]]. |
− | Abhidharma analysis focused on refining these lists of factors and on investigating the problems that arise in using them to explain experience. | + | [[Abhidharma]] analysis focused on refining these lists of factors and on investigating the problems that arise in using them to explain [[experience]]. |
− | Simple enumerations of factors found in the earlier [[sutras]] include the lists of [[five aggregates]] ([[skandha]]), [[twelve sense-spheres]] ([[ayatana]]), and eighteen elements ([[dhatu]]) that were used to describe animate beings, or the lists of practices and qualities that were to be incorporated into the set of thirty-seven limbs of [[enlightenment]], whose cultivation results in the attainment of enlightenment. | + | Simple enumerations of factors found in the earlier [[sutras]] include the lists of [[five aggregates]] ([[skandha]]), [[twelve sense-spheres]] ([[ayatana]]), and [[eighteen elements]] ([[dhatu]]) that were used to describe animate [[beings]], or the lists of practices and qualities that were to be incorporated into the set of thirty-seven limbs of [[enlightenment]], whose [[cultivation]] results in the [[attainment]] of [[enlightenment]]. |
− | These earlier analytical lists were preserved in abhid-harma treatises and integrated into comprehensive and complex intersecting classifications that aimed to clar-ify both the unique identity of each factor and all pos-sible modes of conditioning interaction among them. | + | These earlier analytical lists were preserved in abhid-harma treatises and integrated into comprehensive and complex intersecting classifications that aimed to clar-ify both the unique [[Wikipedia:Identity (social science)|identity]] of each factor and all pos-sible modes of {{Wiki|conditioning}} interaction among them. |
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− | For example, the [[Sarvastivadins]] adopted a system of seventy-five basic categories of factors distinguished according to their intrinsic nature ([[svabhava]]), which were then grouped in five distinct classes. | + | For example, the [[Sarvastivadins]] adopted a system of seventy-five basic categories of factors {{Wiki|distinguished}} according to their [[intrinsic nature]] ([[svabhava]]), which were then grouped in five {{Wiki|distinct}} classes. |
− | The first four classes (material form [[rupa]]—eleven; | + | The first four classes ([[material form]] [[rupa]]—eleven; |
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[[mental factors]] [[caitta]]—forty-six; | [[mental factors]] [[caitta]]—forty-six; | ||
− | and factors dissociated from material form and [[mind]] [[cittaviprayuktasamskara]]—fourteen) comprise all conditioned factors (samskrta), that is, factors that participate in causal interaction and are subject to arising and passing away. The fifth class comprises three unconditioned factors ([[asamskrta]]), which neither arise nor pass away. | + | and factors dissociated from [[material form]] and [[mind]] [[cittaviprayuktasamskara]]—fourteen) comprise all [[conditioned]] factors ([[samskrta]]), that is, factors that participate in causal interaction and are [[subject]] to [[arising]] and passing away. The fifth class comprises three [[unconditioned]] factors ([[asamskrta]]), which neither arise nor pass away. |
− | Through abhidharma analysis, all experiential events were explained as arising from the interaction of a certain number of these factors. | + | Through [[abhidharma]] analysis, all experiential events were explained as [[arising]] from the interaction of a certain number of these factors. |
− | Particular occurrences of individual factors were further characterized in accordance with additional specific criteria or sets of qualities including their moral quality as virtuous, unvirtuous, or indeterminate, their locus of occurrence as connected to the realm of desire, the realm of form, the formless realm, or not connected to any realm, their connection to animate experience as characteristic of [[SENTIENT BEINGS]] or not, and their conditioning efficacy as resulting from certain types of causes or leading to certain types of effects. | + | Particular occurrences of {{Wiki|individual}} factors were further characterized in accordance with additional specific criteria or sets of qualities [[including]] their [[moral]] [[quality]] as [[virtuous]], [[unvirtuous]], or {{Wiki|indeterminate}}, their locus of occurrence as connected to the [[realm of desire]], the [[realm of form]], the [[formless realm]], or not connected to any [[realm]], their [[connection]] to animate [[experience]] as [[characteristic]] of [[SENTIENT BEINGS]] or not, and their {{Wiki|conditioning}} efficacy as resulting from certain types of [[causes]] or leading to certain types of effects. |
− | To give an example, a particular instance of a mental factor, such as conception ([[samjña]]), can be virtuous in moral quality, characteristic of [[sentient beings]], connected to the [[realm of desire]], and so on. | + | To give an example, a particular instance of a [[mental factor]], such as {{Wiki|conception}} ([[samjña]]), can be [[virtuous]] in [[moral]] [[quality]], [[characteristic]] of [[sentient beings]], connected to the [[realm of desire]], and so on. |
− | In other circumstance, another occurrence of the same factor of conception, while still characteristic of [[sentient beings]], can be un-virtuous and connected to the [[realm of form]]. | + | In other circumstance, another occurrence of the same factor of {{Wiki|conception}}, while still [[characteristic]] of [[sentient beings]], can be un-virtuous and connected to the [[realm of form]]. |
− | Although the specific character of each instance of conception differs as virtuous, or unvirtuous, and so on, all such instances, regardless of their particular qualities, share the same intrinsic nature as conception and can, there-fore, be placed within the same fundamental category. | + | Although the specific [[character]] of each instance of {{Wiki|conception}} differs as [[virtuous]], or [[unvirtuous]], and so on, all such instances, regardless of their particular qualities, share the same [[intrinsic nature]] as {{Wiki|conception}} and can, there-fore, be placed within the same fundamental category. |
− | Thus, the taxonomic schema of seventy-five factors represents seventy-five categories of intrinsic nature, each of which occurs phenomenally or experientially in innumerable instances. | + | Thus, the taxonomic {{Wiki|schema}} of seventy-five factors represents seventy-five categories of [[intrinsic nature]], each of which occurs phenomenally or experientially in {{Wiki|innumerable}} instances. |
− | Through this disciplined exercise of exhaustive analysis in terms of constituent factors, experience can be seen as it actually is, the factors causing further suffering can be discarded, and those contributing toward liberation can be isolated and cultivated. | + | Through this [[disciplined]] exercise of exhaustive analysis in terms of constituent factors, [[experience]] can be seen as it actually is, the factors causing further [[suffering]] can be discarded, and those contributing toward [[liberation]] can be isolated and cultivated. |
− | This exhaustive abhidharma analysis of experience occasioned a number of doctrinal controversies that served to demarcate different schools. | + | This exhaustive [[abhidharma]] analysis of [[experience]] occasioned a number of [[doctrinal]] controversies that served to demarcate different schools. |
− | Many of these controversies were directed by fundamental disagreements that could be termed ontological, specifically concerning the way in which the different factors constituting experience exist and the dynamics of their interaction or conditioning. | + | Many of these controversies were directed by fundamental disagreements that could be termed [[Wikipedia:Ontology|ontological]], specifically concerning the way in which the different factors constituting [[experience]] [[exist]] and the dynamics of their interaction or {{Wiki|conditioning}}. |
− | Such ontological concerns motivated the early lists of factors in the [[sutras]], which were used to support the fundamental [[Buddhist]] teaching of no-self ([[anatman]]) by demonstrating that no | + | Such [[Wikipedia:Ontology|ontological]] concerns motivated the early lists of factors in the [[sutras]], which were used to support the fundamental [[Buddhist]] [[teaching]] of [[no-self]] ([[anatman]]) by demonstrating that no |
− | perduring, unchanging, independent self ([[atman]]) could be found. | + | perduring, [[unchanging]], {{Wiki|independent}} [[self]] ([[atman]]) could be found. |
− | In [[abhidharma]] treatises the focus of ontological concern shifted from gross objects, such as the self, to the factors or [[dharmas]] of which these objects were understood to consist. | + | In [[abhidharma]] treatises the focus of [[Wikipedia:Ontology|ontological]] [[concern]] shifted from gross [[objects]], such as the [[self]], to the factors or [[dharmas]] of which these [[objects]] were understood to consist. |
− | Perhaps the most distinctive ontology was proposed by the [[Sarvastivadins]], “those who claim sarvam asti,” or “everything exists.” | + | Perhaps the most {{Wiki|distinctive}} {{Wiki|ontology}} was proposed by the [[Sarvastivadins]], “those who claim [[sarvam asti]],” or “everything [[exists]].” |
− | Beginning from the fundamental Buddhist teaching of [[ANITYA]] (IMPERMANENCE), they suggested that the constituent factors of experience exist as discrete and real entities, arising and passing away within the span of a single moment. | + | Beginning from the fundamental [[Buddhist teaching]] of [[ANITYA]] ([[IMPERMANENCE]]), they suggested that the constituent factors of [[experience]] [[exist]] as discrete and real entities, [[arising]] and passing away within the span of a [[single moment]]. |
− | But such a view of experience as an array of strictly momentary factors would seem to make continuity and indeed any conditioning interaction among the discrete factors impossible. Factors of one moment, whose existence is limited to that moment, could never condition the arising of subsequent factors that do not yet exist; and factors of the subsequent moment must then arise without a cause since their prior causes no longer exist. | + | But such a view of [[experience]] as an array of strictly momentary factors would seem to make continuity and indeed any {{Wiki|conditioning}} interaction among the discrete factors impossible. Factors of one [[moment]], whose [[existence]] is limited to that [[moment]], could never [[condition]] the [[arising]] of subsequent factors that do not yet [[exist]]; and factors of the subsequent [[moment]] must then arise without a [[cause]] since their prior [[causes]] no longer [[exist]]. |
− | To safeguard both the [[Buddhist teaching ]]of impermanence and the conditioning process that is essential to account for ordinary experience, the [[Sarvastivadins]] suggested a novel reinterpretation of existence. | + | To safeguard both the [[Buddhist teaching ]]of [[impermanence]] and the {{Wiki|conditioning}} process that is [[essential]] to account for ordinary [[experience]], the [[Sarvastivadins]] suggested a {{Wiki|novel}} reinterpretation of [[existence]]. |
− | Each factor, they claimed, is characterized by both an intrinsic nature, which exists unchanged in the past, present, and future, and an activity or causal efficacy, which arises and passes away due to the influence of conditions within the span of the present moment. | + | Each factor, they claimed, is characterized by both an [[intrinsic nature]], which [[exists]] unchanged in the {{Wiki|past}}, {{Wiki|present}}, and {{Wiki|future}}, and an [[activity]] or causal efficacy, which arises and passes away due to the influence of [[conditions]] within the span of the {{Wiki|present}} [[moment]]. |
− | Only those factors that are defined by both intrinsic nature and the possibility of activity exist as real entities (dravya); the composite objects of ordinary experience that lack intrinsic nature exist only as mental constructs or provisional designations (praj-ñapti). | + | Only those factors that are defined by both [[intrinsic nature]] and the possibility of [[activity]] [[exist]] as real entities ([[dravya]]); the composite [[objects]] of ordinary [[experience]] that lack [[intrinsic nature]] [[exist]] only as [[mental]] constructs or provisional designations (praj-ñapti). |
− | This model, the [[Sarvastivadins]] claimed, pre-serves the [[Buddhist doctrine of impermanence]], since each factor’s activity arises and passes away, and yet also explains continuity and the process of conditioning, since factors exist as intrinsic nature in the past, present, and future. | + | This model, the [[Sarvastivadins]] claimed, pre-serves the [[Buddhist doctrine of impermanence]], since each factor’s [[activity]] arises and passes away, and yet also explains continuity and the process of {{Wiki|conditioning}}, since factors [[exist]] as [[intrinsic nature]] in the {{Wiki|past}}, {{Wiki|present}}, and {{Wiki|future}}. |
− | Such past (or future) existent factors can then, through various special types of causal efficacy, serve as conditions in the arising of subsequent factors. | + | Such {{Wiki|past}} (or {{Wiki|future}}) [[existent]] factors can then, through various special types of causal efficacy, serve as [[conditions]] in the [[arising]] of subsequent factors. |
− | The Sarvastivada ontological model be-came the subject of heated debate and was rejected by other schools (e.g., the [[Theravada]] and the [[Darstantika]]) who claimed that factors exist only in the present, and not in the past and future. According to the [[Darstantikas]], intrinsic nature cannot be distinguished from a factor’s activity. | + | The [[Sarvastivada]] [[Wikipedia:Ontology|ontological]] model be-came the [[subject]] of [[heated]] [[debate]] and was rejected by other schools (e.g., the [[Theravada]] and the [[Darstantika]]) who claimed that factors [[exist]] only in the {{Wiki|present}}, and not in the {{Wiki|past}} and {{Wiki|future}}. According to the [[Darstantikas]], [[intrinsic nature]] cannot be {{Wiki|distinguished}} from a factor’s [[activity]]. |
− | Instead, a factor’s very existence is its activity, and experience is nothing other than an uninterrupted conditioning process. | + | Instead, a factor’s very [[existence]] is its [[activity]], and [[experience]] is nothing other than an uninterrupted {{Wiki|conditioning}} process. |
− | The fragmentation of this conditioning process into discrete factors possessed of individual intrinsic nature and unique efficacy is nothing but a mental fabrication. | + | The fragmentation of this {{Wiki|conditioning}} process into discrete factors possessed of {{Wiki|individual}} [[intrinsic nature]] and unique efficacy is nothing but a [[mental fabrication]]. |
− | These ontological investigations generated complex theories of conditioning and intricate typologies of causes and conditions. | + | These [[Wikipedia:Ontology|ontological]] investigations generated complex theories of {{Wiki|conditioning}} and intricate typologies of [[causes and conditions]]. |
− | There is evidence for several rival classifications of individual causes and conditions, each of which accounts for a specific mode of conditioning interaction among specific categories of factors: | + | There is {{Wiki|evidence}} for several rival classifications of {{Wiki|individual}} [[causes and conditions]], each of which accounts for a specific mode of {{Wiki|conditioning}} interaction among specific categories of factors: |
− | For example, the [[Theravadins]] proposed a set of twenty-four conditions; the [[Sarvastivadins]], two separate sets of four conditions and six causes. | + | For example, the [[Theravadins]] proposed a set of twenty-four [[conditions]]; the [[Sarvastivadins]], two separate sets of [[four conditions]] and [[six causes]]. |
− | Besides establishing different typologies of causes and conditions, the schools also disagreed on the causal modality exercised by these specific types. The Sarvastivadins acknowledged that certain of these causes and conditions arise prior to their effects, while others, which exert a supportive conditioning efficacy, arise simultaneously with their effects. | + | Besides establishing different typologies of [[causes and conditions]], the schools also disagreed on the causal modality exercised by these specific types. The [[Sarvastivadins]] [[acknowledged]] that certain of these [[causes and conditions]] arise prior to their effects, while others, which exert a supportive {{Wiki|conditioning}} efficacy, arise simultaneously with their effects. |
− | The [[Darstantikas]], however, allowed only successive causation; a cause must always precede its effect. | + | The [[Darstantikas]], however, allowed only successive [[causation]]; a [[cause]] must always precede its effect. |
− | In these debates about causality, the nature of animate or personal conditioning that is, efficacious action, or [[KARMA]] and the theory of [[dependent origination]] intended to account for animate conditioning were, naturally, central issues because of their fundamental role in all [[Buddhist teaching]] and practice. | + | In these [[debates]] about [[causality]], the [[nature]] of animate or personal {{Wiki|conditioning}} that is, efficacious [[action]], or [[KARMA]] and the {{Wiki|theory}} of [[dependent origination]] intended to account for animate {{Wiki|conditioning}} were, naturally, central issues because of their fundamental role in all [[Buddhist teaching]] and practice. |
− | The investigation of these doctrinal controversies, which came to occupy an ever greater position in later [[abhidharma]] treatises, required the development of more formal methods of argumentation that employed both supporting scriptural citations and reasoned in-vestigations. | + | The [[investigation]] of these [[doctrinal]] controversies, which came to occupy an ever greater position in later [[abhidharma]] treatises, required the [[development]] of more formal [[methods]] of {{Wiki|argumentation}} that employed both supporting [[scriptural]] citations and reasoned in-vestigations. |
− | In the earliest examples of such arguments, reasoned investigations did not yet possess the power of independent proof and were considered valid only in conjunction with supportive scriptural citations. | + | In the earliest examples of such arguments, reasoned investigations did not yet possess the power of {{Wiki|independent}} [[proof]] and were considered valid only in {{Wiki|conjunction}} with supportive [[scriptural]] citations. |
− | This reliance upon scriptural citations spurred the development of a systematic HERMENEUTICS that would mediate conflicting positions by judging the authenticity and authority of corroborating scriptural passages and determining the correct mode of their interpretation. | + | This reliance upon [[scriptural]] citations spurred the [[development]] of a systematic HERMENEUTICS that would mediate conflicting positions by judging the authenticity and authority of corroborating [[scriptural]] passages and determining the correct mode of their [[interpretation]]. |
− | In general, the interpretative principles applied were inclusive and harmonizing; any statement deemed in conformity with the teaching of the [[Buddha]] or with his [[enlightenment]] experience was accepted as genuine. | + | In general, the interpretative {{Wiki|principles}} applied were inclusive and harmonizing; any statement deemed in conformity with the [[teaching]] of the [[Buddha]] or with his [[enlightenment]] [[experience]] was accepted as genuine. |
− | Hierarchies were created that incorporated divergent scriptural passages by valuing them differently. And finally, contradictory passages in the [[sutras]] or within [[abhidharma]] texts were said to represent the variant perspectives from which the Buddhist teaching could be presented. | + | Hierarchies were created that incorporated divergent [[scriptural]] passages by valuing them differently. And finally, [[contradictory]] passages in the [[sutras]] or within [[abhidharma]] texts were said to represent the variant perspectives from which the [[Buddhist teaching]] could be presented. |
− | Notable for its parallel with later [[Buddhist]] ontology and epistemology was the hermeneutic technique whereby certain passages or texts were judged to have explicit meaning (nltartha) expressing absolute truth or reality, while others were judged to have implicit meaning ([[neyartha]]) expressing mere [[conventional truth]]. | + | Notable for its parallel with later [[Buddhist]] {{Wiki|ontology}} and epistemology was the {{Wiki|hermeneutic}} technique whereby certain passages or texts were judged to have explicit meaning (nltartha) expressing [[absolute truth]] or [[reality]], while others were judged to have implicit meaning ([[neyartha]]) expressing mere [[conventional truth]]. |
− | And for the abhidharma texts, the [[sutras]] were merely implicit and in need of further interpretation that could be provided only by the explicit [[abhidharma]] treatises. In [[abhidharma]] texts of the later period, reasoned investigations were deemed sufficient, and the supporting scriptural references became decontextualized commonplaces, cited simply to validate the use of key terms in an [[abhidharma]] context. | + | And for the [[abhidharma texts]], the [[sutras]] were merely implicit and in need of further [[interpretation]] that could be provided only by the explicit [[abhidharma]] treatises. In [[abhidharma]] texts of the later period, reasoned investigations were deemed sufficient, and the supporting [[scriptural]] references became decontextualized commonplaces, cited simply to validate the use of key terms in an [[abhidharma]] context. |
− | Reasoned investigations began to be appraised by independent non-scriptural criteria, such as internal consistency, and the absence of logical faults, such as fallacious causal justification. | + | Reasoned investigations began to be appraised by {{Wiki|independent}} non-scriptural criteria, such as internal consistency, and the absence of [[logical]] faults, such as fallacious causal {{Wiki|justification}}. |
− | The doctrinal analysis and methods of argumentation developed within [[abhidharma]] treatises defined the course for later [[Indian]] [[Buddhist]] [[scholasticism]], which refined and expanded its [[abhidharma]] heritage through the addition of new doctrinal perspectives, increasingly sophisticated techniques of argument, and a wider context of both intra-and extra-[[Buddhist]] debate. | + | The [[doctrinal]] analysis and [[methods]] of {{Wiki|argumentation}} developed within [[abhidharma]] treatises defined the course for later [[Indian]] [[Buddhist]] [[scholasticism]], which refined and expanded its [[abhidharma]] heritage through the addition of new [[doctrinal]] perspectives, increasingly sophisticated [[techniques]] of argument, and a wider context of both intra-and extra-[[Buddhist]] [[debate]]. |
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− | See also: [[Abhidharmakosabhasya]]; [[Anatman]]/[[Atman]] (No-Self/Self); Canon; Commentarial Literature; Councils, [[Buddhist]]; [[Dharma]] and [[Dharmas]]; Psychology; [[Sarvastivada]] and [[Mulasarvastivada]] | + | See also: [[Abhidharmakosabhasya]]; [[Anatman]]/[[Atman]] (No-Self/Self); [[Canon]]; {{Wiki|Commentarial}} {{Wiki|Literature}}; Councils, [[Buddhist]]; [[Dharma]] and [[Dharmas]]; {{Wiki|Psychology}}; [[Sarvastivada]] and [[Mulasarvastivada]] |
− | Bibliography | + | [[Bibliography]] |
Bareau, André. “Les Sectes bouddhiques du Petit Véhicule et leurs [[Abhidharmapitaka]].” Bulletin de l’École Française d’Extrême- | Bareau, André. “Les Sectes bouddhiques du Petit Véhicule et leurs [[Abhidharmapitaka]].” Bulletin de l’École Française d’Extrême- | ||
− | Orient 50 (1952): 1–11. | + | {{Wiki|Orient}} 50 (1952): 1–11. |
− | Cox, Collett. “The Unbroken Treatise: Scripture and Argument in Early Buddhist Scholasticism.” In Innovation in Religious | + | Cox, Collett. “The Unbroken Treatise: [[Scripture]] and Argument in Early [[Buddhist]] [[Scholasticism]].” In Innovation in [[Religious]] |
− | Traditions: Essays in the Interpretation of Religious Change,ed. Michael A. Williams, Collett Cox, and Martin S. Jaffee. | + | [[Traditions]]: Essays in the Interpretation of [[Religious]] Change,ed. Michael A. [[Williams]], Collett Cox, and Martin S. Jaffee. |
− | Berlin and New York: de Gruyter, 1992. | + | [[Berlin]] and [[New York]]: de Gruyter, 1992. |
− | Cox, Collett. Disputed [[Dharmas]]: Early Buddhist Theories on Existence. Tokyo: International Institute for Buddhist Studies, 1995. | + | Cox, Collett. Disputed [[Dharmas]]: Early [[Buddhist]] Theories on [[Existence]]. [[Tokyo]]: International Institute for [[Buddhist Studies]], 1995. |
− | Cox, Collett. “Kas´mra: Vaibhasika Orthodoxy (Chapter 3).” In Sarvastivada Buddhist Scholasticism, by Charles Willemen, | + | Cox, Collett. “Kas´mra: [[Vaibhasika]] {{Wiki|Orthodoxy}} ([[Chapter]] 3).” In [[Sarvastivada]] [[Buddhist]] [[Scholasticism]], by Charles Willemen, |
− | Bart Dessein, and Collett Cox. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. 1997. | + | Bart Dessein, and Collett Cox. [[Leiden]], {{Wiki|Netherlands}}: Brill. 1997. |
− | Frauwallner, Erich. Studies in Abhidharma Literature and the Origins of Buddhist Philosophical Systems, tr. Sophie Francis | + | {{Wiki|Frauwallner}}, Erich. Studies in [[Abhidharma]] {{Wiki|Literature}} and the Origins of [[Buddhist]] [[Philosophical]] Systems, tr. Sophie [[Francis]] |
− | Kidd. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995. | + | Kidd. [[Albany]]: [[State University of New York Press]], 1995. |
− | Gethin, Rupert. “The Matikas: Memorization, Mindfulness, and the List.” In In the Mirror of Memory: Reflections on Mindfulness and Remembrance in Indian and [[Tibetan Buddhism]], ed. Janet Gyatso. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992. | + | [[Gethin]], Rupert. “The [[Matikas]]: [[Memorization]], [[Mindfulness]], and the List.” In In the [[Mirror]] of [[Memory]]: Reflections on [[Mindfulness]] and [[Remembrance]] in [[Indian]] and [[Tibetan Buddhism]], ed. [[Janet Gyatso]]. [[Albany]]: [[State University of New York Press]], 1992. |
− | Hirakawa Akira. A History of Indian [[Buddhism]]: From [[Sakyamuni]] to Early [[Mahayana]], tr. Paul Groner. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1990. | + | [[Hirakawa Akira]]. A History of [[Indian]] [[Buddhism]]: From [[Sakyamuni]] to Early [[Mahayana]], tr. Paul Groner. [[Honolulu]]: {{Wiki|University of Hawaii Press}}, 1990. |
− | [[Nyanatiloka Mahathera]]. Guide through the [[Abhidhamma Pitaka]] (1938). Kandy, [[Sri Lanka]]: Buddhist Publication Society, 1971. | + | [[Nyanatiloka Mahathera]]. Guide through the [[Abhidhamma Pitaka]] (1938). [[Kandy]], [[Sri Lanka]]: [[Buddhist Publication Society]], 1971. |
− | Potter, Karl; with Buswell, Robert E.; Jaini, Padmanabh S.; and Reat, Noble Ross; eds. [[Abhidharma]] [[Buddhism]] to 150 A.D., Vol. 7: Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1996. | + | Potter, Karl; with Buswell, Robert E.; Jaini, Padmanabh S.; and Reat, [[Noble]] Ross; eds. [[Abhidharma]] [[Buddhism]] to 150 A.D., Vol. 7: {{Wiki|Encyclopedia}} of [[Indian]] [[Philosophies]]. [[Delhi]]: {{Wiki|Motilal Banarsidass}}, 1996. |
− | Watanabe Fumimaro. Philosophy and Its Development in the [[Nikayas]] and [[Abhidhamma]]. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1983. | + | Watanabe Fumimaro. [[Philosophy]] and Its [[Development]] in the [[Nikayas]] and [[Abhidhamma]]. [[Delhi]]: {{Wiki|Motilal Banarsidass}}, 1983. |
Latest revision as of 23:40, 10 February 2020
Abhidharma exegesis evolved over a long period as both the agent and the product of a nascent and then increasingly disparate Buddhist sectarian self-consciousness.
Given the voluminous nature of even the surviving literature that provides a record of this long doctrinal history, any outline of abhidharma method must be content with sketching the most general contours and touching on a few representative examples.
Nonetheless, scanning the history of abhidharma, one discerns a general course of development that in the end resulted in a complex interpretative edifice radically different from the sutras upon which it was believed to be based.
In its earliest stage, that is, as elaborative commentary, abhidharma was guided by the intention simply to clarify the content of the sutras.
Taxonomic lists were used as a mnemonic device facilitating oral preservation and transmission; catechetical investigation was employed in a teaching environment of oral commentary guided by the pedagogical technique of question and answer.
Over time, the taxonomic lists grew in complexity as the simpler lists presented in the sutra teachings were combined in new ways, and additional categories of qualitative analysis were created to specify modes of interaction among discrete aspects of the sutra teaching.
The initially terse catechetical in-vestigation was expanded with discursive exposition and new methods of interpretation and argumenta-tion, which were demanded by an increasingly polem-ical environment.
These developments coincided with a move from oral to written methods of textual trans-mission and with the challenge presented by other Buddhist and non-Buddhist groups.
In its final stage, abhidharma texts became complex philosophical treatises employing sophisticated methods of argumenta-tion, whose purpose was the analysis and elaboration of doctrinal issues for their own sake.
The very sutras from which abhidharma arose were now subordinated as mere statements in need of analysis that only the abhidharma could provide. No longer serving as the starting point for abhidharma exegesis, the sutras were
invoked only as a supplemental authority to buttress independent reasoned investigations or to corroborate doctrinal points actually far removed from their scriptural antecedents.
Abstract analysis, which is the guiding principle of abhidharma exegesis, also became the salient characteristic of its doctrinal interpretation. The analytical tendency, evident in lists present even in the sutras, expanded in abhidharma to encompass all of experience.
In very simple terms, abhidharma attempts an exhaustive and systematic accounting of every possible type of experience in terms of its ultimate constituents.
Abhidharma views experience with a critical analytical eye, breaking down the gross objects of ordinary perception into their constituent factors or dharmas and clarifying the causal interaction among these discrete factors.
This analysis was not, however, motivated by simple abstract interest, but rather by a soteriological purpose at the very core of Buddhist religious praxis.
Analysis determines the requisite factors of which each event consists, distinguishing those factors that lead to suffering and rebirth from those that contribute to their termination. This very process of analysis was identified with the insight that functions in religious praxis to cut off ensnaring factors and to cultivate those leading to liberation.
Abhidharma analysis focused on refining these lists of factors and on investigating the problems that arise in using them to explain experience.
Simple enumerations of factors found in the earlier sutras include the lists of five aggregates (skandha), twelve sense-spheres (ayatana), and eighteen elements (dhatu) that were used to describe animate beings, or the lists of practices and qualities that were to be incorporated into the set of thirty-seven limbs of enlightenment, whose cultivation results in the attainment of enlightenment.
These earlier analytical lists were preserved in abhid-harma treatises and integrated into comprehensive and complex intersecting classifications that aimed to clar-ify both the unique identity of each factor and all pos-sible modes of conditioning interaction among them.
The abhidharma treatises of various schools proposed differing lists of factors containing as many as seventy-five, eighty-one, or one hundred discrete categories.
For example, the Sarvastivadins adopted a system of seventy-five basic categories of factors distinguished according to their intrinsic nature (svabhava), which were then grouped in five distinct classes.
The first four classes (material form rupa—eleven;
mental factors caitta—forty-six;
and factors dissociated from material form and mind cittaviprayuktasamskara—fourteen) comprise all conditioned factors (samskrta), that is, factors that participate in causal interaction and are subject to arising and passing away. The fifth class comprises three unconditioned factors (asamskrta), which neither arise nor pass away.
Through abhidharma analysis, all experiential events were explained as arising from the interaction of a certain number of these factors.
Particular occurrences of individual factors were further characterized in accordance with additional specific criteria or sets of qualities including their moral quality as virtuous, unvirtuous, or indeterminate, their locus of occurrence as connected to the realm of desire, the realm of form, the formless realm, or not connected to any realm, their connection to animate experience as characteristic of SENTIENT BEINGS or not, and their conditioning efficacy as resulting from certain types of causes or leading to certain types of effects.
To give an example, a particular instance of a mental factor, such as conception (samjña), can be virtuous in moral quality, characteristic of sentient beings, connected to the realm of desire, and so on.
In other circumstance, another occurrence of the same factor of conception, while still characteristic of sentient beings, can be un-virtuous and connected to the realm of form.
Although the specific character of each instance of conception differs as virtuous, or unvirtuous, and so on, all such instances, regardless of their particular qualities, share the same intrinsic nature as conception and can, there-fore, be placed within the same fundamental category.
Thus, the taxonomic schema of seventy-five factors represents seventy-five categories of intrinsic nature, each of which occurs phenomenally or experientially in innumerable instances.
Through this disciplined exercise of exhaustive analysis in terms of constituent factors, experience can be seen as it actually is, the factors causing further suffering can be discarded, and those contributing toward liberation can be isolated and cultivated.
This exhaustive abhidharma analysis of experience occasioned a number of doctrinal controversies that served to demarcate different schools.
Many of these controversies were directed by fundamental disagreements that could be termed ontological, specifically concerning the way in which the different factors constituting experience exist and the dynamics of their interaction or conditioning.
Such ontological concerns motivated the early lists of factors in the sutras, which were used to support the fundamental Buddhist teaching of no-self (anatman) by demonstrating that no
perduring, unchanging, independent self (atman) could be found.
In abhidharma treatises the focus of ontological concern shifted from gross objects, such as the self, to the factors or dharmas of which these objects were understood to consist.
Perhaps the most distinctive ontology was proposed by the Sarvastivadins, “those who claim sarvam asti,” or “everything exists.”
Beginning from the fundamental Buddhist teaching of ANITYA (IMPERMANENCE), they suggested that the constituent factors of experience exist as discrete and real entities, arising and passing away within the span of a single moment.
But such a view of experience as an array of strictly momentary factors would seem to make continuity and indeed any conditioning interaction among the discrete factors impossible. Factors of one moment, whose existence is limited to that moment, could never condition the arising of subsequent factors that do not yet exist; and factors of the subsequent moment must then arise without a cause since their prior causes no longer exist.
To safeguard both the Buddhist teaching of impermanence and the conditioning process that is essential to account for ordinary experience, the Sarvastivadins suggested a novel reinterpretation of existence.
Each factor, they claimed, is characterized by both an intrinsic nature, which exists unchanged in the past, present, and future, and an activity or causal efficacy, which arises and passes away due to the influence of conditions within the span of the present moment.
Only those factors that are defined by both intrinsic nature and the possibility of activity exist as real entities (dravya); the composite objects of ordinary experience that lack intrinsic nature exist only as mental constructs or provisional designations (praj-ñapti).
This model, the Sarvastivadins claimed, pre-serves the Buddhist doctrine of impermanence, since each factor’s activity arises and passes away, and yet also explains continuity and the process of conditioning, since factors exist as intrinsic nature in the past, present, and future.
Such past (or future) existent factors can then, through various special types of causal efficacy, serve as conditions in the arising of subsequent factors.
The Sarvastivada ontological model be-came the subject of heated debate and was rejected by other schools (e.g., the Theravada and the Darstantika) who claimed that factors exist only in the present, and not in the past and future. According to the Darstantikas, intrinsic nature cannot be distinguished from a factor’s activity.
Instead, a factor’s very existence is its activity, and experience is nothing other than an uninterrupted conditioning process.
The fragmentation of this conditioning process into discrete factors possessed of individual intrinsic nature and unique efficacy is nothing but a mental fabrication.
These ontological investigations generated complex theories of conditioning and intricate typologies of causes and conditions.
There is evidence for several rival classifications of individual causes and conditions, each of which accounts for a specific mode of conditioning interaction among specific categories of factors:
For example, the Theravadins proposed a set of twenty-four conditions; the Sarvastivadins, two separate sets of four conditions and six causes.
Besides establishing different typologies of causes and conditions, the schools also disagreed on the causal modality exercised by these specific types. The Sarvastivadins acknowledged that certain of these causes and conditions arise prior to their effects, while others, which exert a supportive conditioning efficacy, arise simultaneously with their effects.
The Darstantikas, however, allowed only successive causation; a cause must always precede its effect.
In these debates about causality, the nature of animate or personal conditioning that is, efficacious action, or KARMA and the theory of dependent origination intended to account for animate conditioning were, naturally, central issues because of their fundamental role in all Buddhist teaching and practice.
The investigation of these doctrinal controversies, which came to occupy an ever greater position in later abhidharma treatises, required the development of more formal methods of argumentation that employed both supporting scriptural citations and reasoned in-vestigations.
In the earliest examples of such arguments, reasoned investigations did not yet possess the power of independent proof and were considered valid only in conjunction with supportive scriptural citations.
This reliance upon scriptural citations spurred the development of a systematic HERMENEUTICS that would mediate conflicting positions by judging the authenticity and authority of corroborating scriptural passages and determining the correct mode of their interpretation.
In general, the interpretative principles applied were inclusive and harmonizing; any statement deemed in conformity with the teaching of the Buddha or with his enlightenment experience was accepted as genuine.
Hierarchies were created that incorporated divergent scriptural passages by valuing them differently. And finally, contradictory passages in the sutras or within abhidharma texts were said to represent the variant perspectives from which the Buddhist teaching could be presented.
Notable for its parallel with later Buddhist ontology and epistemology was the hermeneutic technique whereby certain passages or texts were judged to have explicit meaning (nltartha) expressing absolute truth or reality, while others were judged to have implicit meaning (neyartha) expressing mere conventional truth.
And for the abhidharma texts, the sutras were merely implicit and in need of further interpretation that could be provided only by the explicit abhidharma treatises. In abhidharma texts of the later period, reasoned investigations were deemed sufficient, and the supporting scriptural references became decontextualized commonplaces, cited simply to validate the use of key terms in an abhidharma context.
Reasoned investigations began to be appraised by independent non-scriptural criteria, such as internal consistency, and the absence of logical faults, such as fallacious causal justification.
The doctrinal analysis and methods of argumentation developed within abhidharma treatises defined the course for later Indian Buddhist scholasticism, which refined and expanded its abhidharma heritage through the addition of new doctrinal perspectives, increasingly sophisticated techniques of argument, and a wider context of both intra-and extra-Buddhist debate.
See also: Abhidharmakosabhasya; Anatman/Atman (No-Self/Self); Canon; Commentarial Literature; Councils, Buddhist; Dharma and Dharmas; Psychology; Sarvastivada and Mulasarvastivada
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COLLETT COX