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THE REV. W. ST. CLAIR TISDALL, D.D., ON 



universe, which, according to the Christian view, was created 

 by God, but which is, according to Mahayanism, a manifestation 

 of the Dharmakaya himself. It is also different from Brahman 

 in that it is not absolutely impersonal, nor is it a mere being. 

 The Dharmakaya, on the contrary, is capable of willing and 

 reflecting : to use Buddhist phraseology, it is Karund (love)* and 

 Bodhi (intelligence), and not the mere state of being. This 

 pantheistic and at the same time entheistic Dharmakaya is 

 working in every sentient being, for sentient beings are nothing 

 but a self-manifestation of the Dharmakaya." In much the 

 same way, in the translation of The Awakening of Faith, he 

 writes : " Dharmakaya signifies that which constitutes the ulti- 

 mate foundation of existence, one great whole in which all forms 

 of individuation are obliterated — in a word, the Absolute. This 

 objective absolute being . . . has been idealized by Mahayanists, 

 so that that which knows is now identical with that which is 

 known, because they say that the essence of existence is nothing 

 but intelligence pure, perfect, and free from all possible worries 

 and evils." And Asvaghosha (if hef be the author of The 

 Awakening of Faith) says : " The Dharmakaya can manifest 

 itself in various corporeal forms just because it is the real 

 essence of them. Matter (rupa) and mind (citta) from the very 

 beginning are not a duality. So we speak of the universe as a 

 system of rationality (jorajnakdya), seeing that the real nature 

 of matter just constitutes the norm of mind. Again we speak 

 of the universe as a system of materiality (dharmaJcdya), seeing 

 that the true nature of mind just constitutes the norm of 

 matter."J 



From all this, which recalls to our minds many of the vain 

 theories and dogmas of a large number of philosophies both 

 Eastern and Western, ancient and modern, we clearly gather 

 that Mahayanism in its genuine form recognizes no God in any 

 sense worthy of the term. Its Dharmakaya is an abstraction, 

 and denotes the reality or substance which is conceived as under- 

 lying all that exists. It is impersonal, though there seems 

 (from what we observe in Nature) to be somehow incorporated 

 in it a blind pity (for Karund means pity, and not love), and 

 through it there runs not a purpose, but some vague manifesta- 

 tion of intelligence. Most Mahayanists deny to it Will, though 



* The word does not mean love, but pity. 



t Most scholars believe that he is not the Asvaghosha of the first 

 century of our era. 



| Awakening of Faith, Suzuki's version, p. 103. 



