Tag Archives: Old Buddhism

A Docetic Assessment

Firstly, it needs to be stated that what we have is a true scholarly mansion in the contemporary efforts of the Hamburg Buddhist Studies in once again bringing to the fore the vast significance of the tathāgatagarbha doctrine. Our last series highlighted one such scholar, Jonathan A. Silk, and his analysis of the Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivarta. In this series we will be engaged with Michael Radich and his examination of the docetic factor in light of the Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra. Radich believes that this sutra is the earliest in the Mahayana in emphasizing the origin of tathāgatagarbha doctrine; yet it needs to be added that the first appearance of the “term” tathāgatagarbha can be “traced back to the Mahāsaṃghika Ekottarikāgama (the Chinese recension of the Aṅguttara Nikāya): read more

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