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" The self-existing mind taking hold of (or ' cleaving to,' upadana)^ its own mind, then that which is itself contrary to delusion, of itself creates illusive phsenomena ; but not taking hold of (it), there is an absence of (the idea of) that which is contrary to illusion ; and if this idea be never produced, then what foundation can there be for illusive phasnomena ? 13. "This is, indeed, the 'mysterious Lotus,' the precious wisdom of Vajra Raja, the magic Samadhi, leaping over all ignorance in the snapping of a finger. This is the true Abidharma — the Bhagavan of the ten worlds — the one gate of Nirvana." 14. " On this, Ananda and all the great congregation, hearing the profoundly merciful exposition of Buddha Tathagata con- tained in the lines of these gathas, so clear in their meaning, so lucid in their words, receiving enlightenment from their delivery, rejoiced with great joy. 15. "Then Ananda, with closed hands, etc., addressed Buddha thus: Although I have heard this profoundly merciful exposition of Truth, yet is my heart not altogether able to reach the mean- ing of the doctrine of the six loosenings, excluding the idea of one reality. Would that the World-honoured one would, for our sake, explain the meaning of this Docti'ine ! 16. "At this time, Tathagata, sitting on his Lion throne, arranged his Mvasana Robe, and gathered up his Saiighati, and 1 I take kai' to signify "to exclude"; if it were in the first tone, then the sense would be directly opposite, thus : — " get enlightenment, and forthwith you get deliverance." ^ Is this the Jatisara knowledge? Buddha cjosha's Parables, p. 106. •' Vide Colebrooke, p. 255. 368 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST taking hold of the Table near him, made of seven precious sub- stances, stretching forth his hand upon it, he took hold of the em- broidered silken handkerchief which the Deva Ki-pi-lo (Kapila?) had given him. 17. "And then, in the sight of the great congregation, he tied in it a knot, and, showing it to Ananda, said. What call you this ? Ananda and all replied, This is called a knot. On this Buddha repeated the act, and tied a second knot above the first, and said. What call you this ? They replied again. This also is a knot ; and on this he repeated the act, and, one after another, tied six knots, showing each to the assembly and asking the same question, receiving in each case a similar reply. ] 8. " Buddha addressed Ananda : When I first tied the handker- chief, you said it was made into a knot ; yet the handkerchief it- self is one piece of silk. How, then, can you speak of a second and a third knot? "Ananda replied: World-honoured! this precious embroidered handkerchief, originally woven from silken threads into its present form, although in itself essentially one substance, yet, as I imagine, when tied up into a knot, may be spoken of as knotted, even if there were a hundred; how much more in the present case, when there are but six. On what ground, then, does Buddha demur to the name given to each successive act on his part ? " Buddha addressed Ananda : You know, with respect to this valuable silk, that in its original character it is one ; but when I tied the six successive knots, you replied on each case that the silk was knotted. Ton should clearly understand the limits of this inquiry then, that substantially this silk is one, but circumstantially, on account of the knots, it is different. Now tell me what you think ; each knot T tied, down to the sixth, you replied was a different knot. I now propose to take this sixth knot, as you call it, and now, completing it, I ask do I affect the first knot ? Ananda replied : No, World-honoured one ! as long as you preserve the six knots you have tied, this last cannot in any way be called the first, or affect it in its form. Buddha said: Thus, then, the six knots are not the same ; and searching out the cause of their difference, it results from the one article called a handkerchief, of which they arc made ; and if you confuse the order or the reality of each of the six, you can obtain no exact idea of the whole : so it is with your six organs of sense. SCRIPTURES FROM THE CHINESE. 369 19. "Buddha addressed Ananda: You must still bear with the illustration derived from this subject of the knots ; suppose now, for instance, you did not wish, to have any knots at all, but delighted in the idea of unity, how would you proceed? Ananda said : If you keep these knots tied, then there must of necessity arise the point, this knot is this, and not that ; so that the ques- tion of this and that is produced. If, then, you want to get rid of this question, all you have to do is to tie no knots, and then, indeed, you will not even have to consider the question of unity, for if there is no succession of knots, there can be no first knot. Buddha said. So it is, I say, the doctrine of the six loosenings excludes the idea of unity. 20. " From the first, your mind and your nature, being in dis- order and confusion, there has existed a false excitement of a knowledge derived e. gr., from sight, and this knowledge, wildly excited, has produced endless deceptions; at last, worn out and fatigued with excessive action, the sight has caused the origination of objects of sense, as the eye fatigued sees in space fanciful figures and sky-flowers. But really, in the depth of the true power of sight, there lies no ground or cause for this con- fusion ; and so from this excess of action have sprung up, as qualities and characteristics of this false appearance, the ideas of worldly phaenomena — mountains and rivers and the great earth, life and death and Nirvana — all are alike but perishing qualities of a conditioned existence. 21. "Ananda said: This excessive action I take to correspond to these knots : tell me, then, how to get rid of it. Then Tathagata, with his hand, taking the knotted handkerchief, smoothed out the left part of it, and said. Is it now untied, Ananda ? To which he replied, No. Then the World-honoured one, shaking out the other part, with his hand smoothed it to the right, and said. Is it now untied, Ananda ? To which he replied, No. The World-honoured one then added, I have smoothed the silken napkin out, on the right and left, and yet you say it is not untied : tell me, then, how is it to be unloosed ? To which Ananda said, World-honoured! you must take the knot at the heart of it, and then separate the parts, and you will untie it. Buddha replied : Good, good, Ananda ! if you wish to untie the knots, you must begin at the Heart." B B 370 A CATENA OF BUDDHIST PART IV. MYSTIC PERIOD. Regarding mysticism as tlie natural counterbalance of sclio- lastic refinements^ we should expect to find a Mystical Period in the history of Buddhism, And we find it so. But as in the history of Christian dogma there is no distinct line of demarcation between the Scholastic age and its co-ordinate Mysticism, neither is there any such line to be drawn in the history of Buddhism. There is absolutely no record respecting the development of the Mahayana sys- tem (which may generally be considered as belonging to the dialectical or Scholastic period) from the time of Nagard- juna to that of Asafigha, that is, during a period of ten suc- cessions of Patriarchs, or perhaps about two hundred years. Nearly all the works published during this period are attri- buted to Nagardjuna as the actual author of them. In fact, his name was used to give to the several works the celebrity which that name imported. But during this period, and side by side with it, a move- ment was taking place in the direction of Mysticism. The mind, weary of scholastic subtleties, retui-ned with increased desire to meditate upon itself, to unriddle the secrets of the inner life, and to lose itself in the consciousness of its own existence. So it is, mysticism is " founded on subjective experience, and resorts to the depths of religious contem- plation for its nourishment. ^^^ One of the principal seats of Buddhist learniug in India ' Hag., ii, 2 Wassilicf defines Buddhist Mysticism thus: "Sous le nom de mysticisrae nous compreiious dans le Bouddisme ce qui n'cst pas autre chose qu'une physique spirituelle ou religieuse. C'est I'instruc- tiou du procos dans letpiel se personnifient les intuitions theoriques, I'application praticj^ue ot Tobscrvance des principcs qui sout poses dans la resolution philosophique des problemes donnes." P. 136.