ded over by mind (_mano_). There
are forty-six caitta sa@msk@rta dharmas. Of the three asa@msk@rta
dharmas akas'a (ether) is in essence the freedom from obstruction,
establishing it as a permanent omnipresent immaterial substance
(_nirupakhya_, non-rupa). The second asa@msk@rta dharma, apratisa@mkhya
nirodha, means the non-perception of dharmas caused
by the absence of pratyayas or conditions. Thus when I fix my
attention on one thing, other things are not seen then, not because
they are non-existent but because the conditions which would
have made them visible were absent. The third asa@msk@rta
dharma, pratisa@mkhya nirodha, is the final deliverance from
bondage. Its essential characteristic is everlastingness. These
are called asa@msk@rta because being of the nature of negation
they are non-collocative and hence have no production or dissolution.
The eightfold noble path which leads to this state consists of right
views, right aspirations, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood,
right effort, right mindfulness, right rapture [Footnote ref 1].
___________________________________________________________________
[Footnote 1: Mr Sogen mentions the name of another Buddhist Hinayana
thinker (about 250 A.D.), Harivarman, who founded a school known as
Satyasiddhi school, which propounded the same sort of doctrines as
those preached by Nagarjuna. None of his works are available in Sanskrit
and I have never come across any allusion to his name by Sanskrit writers.]
125
Mahayanism.
It is difficult to say precisely at what time Mahayanism took
its rise. But there is reason to think that as the Mahasa@nghikas
separated themselves from the Theravadins probably some time in
400 B.C. and split themselves up into eight different schools, those
elements of thoughts and ideas which in later days came to be
labelled as Mahayana were gradually on the way to taking their
first inception. We hear in about 100 A.D. of a number of works
which are regarded as various Mahayana sutras, some of which
are probably as old as at least 100 B.C. (if not earlier) and others
as late as 300 or 400 A.D.[Footnote ref 1]. These Mahayanasutras, also
called the Vaipulyasutras, are generally all in the form of instructions
given by the Buddha. Nothing is known about their authors or
compilers, but they are all written in some form of Sanskrit and
were probably written by those who seceded from the Theravada
school.
The word Hinayana ref
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