[Buddha-l] Dharmakīrti's views on hīnayāna

[Richard Hayes]

Dear denizens,

I have spent the better part of my adult life studying the work of a  
Buddhist philosopher, a fellow named Dharmakīrti (whose name means,  
approximately, "Praise the Dharma!"), for whom I have almost no  
respect at all. Perhaps a more accurate way to say it would be that I  
fundamentally disagree with him on many issues that matter to me a lot  
as a practical Buddhist. That notwithstanding, I do find that he  
occasionally makes moves that strike me as well motivated.

The recent prapañca-storm about the term "hīnayāna" got me curious  
about what Dharmakīrti had to say about the alleged distinction  
between hīnayāna and mahāyāna. I thought it might be interesting,  
given that he is usually perceived as someone who was determined to  
find a common ground among all Buddhists and to avoid the bitter  
sectarianism that had divided the Buddhists of his day in India.  
(Being an ecumenist and a pluralist and a Jamesian Pragmatist, I am  
generally sympathetic with everything I have said about Dharmakīrti so  
far.)

A trio of Japanese scholars (ONO Motoi, ODA Jun'ichi, and TAKASHIMA  
Jun) typed the entire Sanskrit corpus of Dharmakīrti's works and put  
them online. Then they wrote a program to produced a KWIC (Key Word In  
Context) index to every Sanskrit word used in the writings of  
Dharmakīrti. I looked up "hīnayāna" in the index. Here's what came  
up: nothing. Dharmakīrti never used the word. Nor did he ever use the  
word "mahāyāna." Naturally, this won him to my heart. I always admire  
people who manage to avoid the topics I try without success to avoid.

Mr Kīrti uses the word "hīna" several times. He notes that vile  
practices (hīna-karma) lead to awful situations and bad rebirth (hīna- 
sthāna-gati). The examples of vile karma that he mentions by name are  
cruelty, theft and sexual intercourse.

Mr Kīrti also uses the related word "heya" several times. ("Hīna"  
means "discarded, avoided, rejected" and "heya" means "what should be  
discarded, avoided and rejected.") What should be rejected?  
Dharmakīrti tells us that the things to be avoided are those things  
that are counterproductive, that is, those things that lead to  
consequences that are the opposite of what we hoped for. We all wish  
for sukha (happiness, contentment, pleasure, comfort etc). When we  
seek sukha in incompetent ways, what we get is duḥkha (unhappiness,  
disappointment, displeasure, pain etc).

So what should be avoided, according to Dharmakīrti, is incompetent  
thinking (akuśala-citta, ayoniśo manaskāra). Hence the importance  
Dharmakīrti places on learning to free oneself from prejudices that  
predispose one to make bad decisions about how to behave.

It looks as though what Katherine Masis skillfully said about Karen  
Armstrong ("Karen Armstrong's words are right on target:  It doesn't  
matter what you believe, but how you behave.") is also true of  
Dharmakīrti. He places his entire energy not into trying to establish  
which beliefs are true, but in showing how beliefs often take the form  
of prejudices that impair the judgment of those who hold them and lead  
them into counterproductive behavior and disappointment.

If what I have said here were the only thing Dharmakīrti had ever  
said, then I would love him as dearly as I love Gotama Buddha and  
Nāgārjuna and Stephen Batchelor. Unfortunately, he said a lot more.  
Tant pis. Knowing when to stop saying is a gift from the gods. (They  
never gave it to me.)


Richard Hayes
Department of Philosophy
University of New Mexico
http://www.unm.edu/~rhayes
rhayes at unm.edu