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Paving the Great Way: Vasubandhu's Unifying Buddhist Philosophy

Online ISBN:
9780231538008
Print ISBN:
9780231168267
Publisher:
Columbia University Press
Book

Paving the Great Way: Vasubandhu's Unifying Buddhist Philosophy

Jonathan Gold
Jonathan Gold
Princeton University
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Published:
11 November 2014
Online ISBN:
9780231538008
Print ISBN:
9780231168267
Publisher:
Columbia University Press

Abstract

The Indian Buddhist philosopher Vasubandhu (fourth-fifth century ce) is known for his critical contribution to Buddhist Abhidharma thought, his turn to the Mahāyāna tradition, and his concise, influential Yogācāra-Vijñānavāda texts. This book reveals another dimension of his legacy: his integration of several seemingly incompatible intellectual and scriptural traditions, with far-ranging consequences for the development of Buddhist epistemology and the theorization of tantra. Most scholars read Vasubandhu's texts in isolation and separate his intellectual development into distinct phases. Featuring close studies of Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakośabhāsya, Vyākhyāyukti, Vimśatikā, and Trisvabhavanirdeśa, among other works, this book identifies recurrent treatments of causality and scriptural interpretation that unify distinct strands of thought under a single, coherent Buddhist philosophy. In Vasubandhu's hands, the Buddha's rejection of the self as a false construction provides a framework through which to clarify problematic philosophical issues, such as the nature of moral agency and subjectivity under a broadly causal worldview. Recognizing this continuity of purpose across Vasubandhu's diverse corpus recasts the interests of the philosopher and his truly innovative vision, which influenced Buddhist thought for a millennium and continues to resonate with today's philosophical issues.

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