Foreword xiii
Preface xv
Introduction
0.1. The Purpose of the Study, and the Significance of the
Lankiivatiira-sutra within Buddhist Doctrinal History 1
0.2. Dating the Text: Problems of Form and Interpretation 13
0.3. Methodology and Outline of the Study 23
Part One: Concepts of Being
1.0. The Nature of Buddhist Ontology 39
General considerations .. The practical aim of the
Yogacara Philosophy
1.1. The Threefold Meaning of Tathagata-garbha and its
Relation to Alaya-vijfi.ana: the Essence of Being 51
Preliminary considerations .. Tathagata-garbha as
essential, supramundane, pure dharma, and its
contrast with the Hindu Atman It Tathagata-garbha
as embryo, and the dynamics of Buddhahood •
Tathagata-garbha as womb or matrix of Buddhahood .. Conclusion
1.2. The Five Skandhas: the Temporal Manifestation
of Being
Introduction .. Brief overview of the Atman
controversy prior to the Lailkiivaliira-siitra II Rupa,
or the formative elements of the five Skandhas ..
Nama, or the formless elements of the five Skandhas ..
The Skandhas and the empirical self, or personality ..
The Skandhas and the trans-empirical Self, the
Tathagata .. The five Skandhas and the denial of
metaphysical dualities Q Concluding remarks on
the notion of Self and its varieties
1.3. Dharmadha:tu: the Spatial or Cosmic Dimension
79
of Being 117
Introductory remarks .. Dharmadhatu as cosmic Law:
the fundamental structure of the universe '" Dharmadhatu
as universal Void: the ground of Being • Concluding
observations
Part Two: Concepts of Knowing
2.0. Buddhist Epistemology, Buddhist Dialectics 135
Truth, untruth, half-truth, "the truth" • The tetralemma
logic: a thousand years of Buddhist dialectics " The early
use of the tetralemma in the Pali canon '" Rationality and
irrationality in Nagarjuna's relativistic logic • Epistemology
in the Lankiivaliira-siitra: a radical critique of language, logic,
and knowledge • Conclusions and preview of part two
2.1. The Epistemological Reduction of the Citta-ma:tra
(Mind-only) Doctrine 169
Preliminary considerations It Citta as the empirical mind •
Citta as the transcendental Mind " Citta-matra as explanation for the triple world (Tribhava) " Concluding words and
the connection between Lailkiivaliira and Zen
2.2. __ From Mind to No-mind: the Transcendental Leap
beyond Empirical Cognition 209
Introduction It The five Dharmas or epistemic categories ..
The three Svabhavas or modes of cognition It The attainment of Aryajfiana: transcendental Wisdom or Gnosis ..
Concluding remarks
2 • .3. The Conjunctive System of the Eight Vijfianas:
the IntegJ;"ation of Both Mind and No-mind States of
Consciousness 237
2.4.
3.0.
Introductory remarks It Jfiana and Vijfiana: abstract
intuition versus concrete knowledge co Khyati- and
Vastuprativikalpa-vijfiana: the perceptual and the objectdiscriminating knowledge .. The inner revolution
(Paravrtti): the return to the tranquil state of pure
consciousness (Alaya-vijfiana) .. Conclusion
The Disjunctive Theory of Causation: Things are
Neither this, Nor that, for They Are All Subject to
Causes and Conditions (Hetu-pratyaya)
Introduction .. The expansion of the relevance of
causation: from the psychological to the cosmicphilosophical principle .. Causation as a possible
theoretical basis for a monistic view of the world It
Causation as a teaching device .. Excursus: highlighting
Nagarjuna's thought in respect to causation .. The
soteriological value of the theory of causation .. Concluding observations
Final Overview
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index
261
287
295
323
357
365