Pudgalavada

The Pudgalavāda (Sanskrit; Chinese: 補特伽羅論者) or "Personalist" school of Buddhism, was a grouping of early Buddhist schools that separated from the Sthavira nikāya around 280 BCE. Prominent groups classified as Pudgalavāda include the Vātsīputrīya nikāya and the Saṃmitīya nikāya.

Pudgala or "person"

The Pudgalavādins asserted that while there is no ātman, there is a pudgala or "person", which is neither the same as nor different from the skandhas (aggregates). The "person" was their method of accounting for karma, rebirth, and nirvana. Other schools held that the "person" exists only as a label, a nominal reality.

Pudgalavādin views were sharply criticized by the Theravada (a record of a Theravadin attack on the pudgala is found in the Kathavatthu), Sarvastivada, and the Madhyamaka.

Popularity

Among the most prominent of the Pudgalavādin schools were the Saṃmitīya. Étienne Lamotte, using the writings of the Chinese traveler Xuanzang, asserted that the Saṃmitīya were in all likelihood the most populous non-Mahayanist sect in India, comprising double the number of the next largest sect. The Pudgalavada school was either the most popular school of Buddhism or one of the most from the 3rd century BCE through the 10 century CE, spanning about 1,200 years or more.

The Pudgalavada school was confined to the Indian sub-continent as it did not spread to Burma, Tibet, Sri Lanka and other nations where Buddhism spread to. Starting from about the second century CE onward, there was a revitalization of Hinduism in India and then later Muslim conquerors which virtually eliminated Buddhism from India by around the 11th century CE. And with that, the end came to the Pudgalavada school. Their version of the Tipitaka was lost and only a few texts remain which were translated to Chinese and now subsequently to English and other languages, not until the late 20th century.

Although they no longer officially exist today in terms of a monastic lineage with transmission, their doctrines remain very popular today. Based on polls and surveys of Buddhists in informal polls at discussion forums, a sizable percentage of modern Buddhists hold Pudgalavada views, even though they might call themselves Theravadin or Mahayanist.

References

• A.K. Warder. Indian Buddhism, 1970, 2nd edn 1980, 3rd edn 2000; Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi
• Priestley, Leonard (1999). Pudgalavāda Buddhism: The Reality of the Indeterminate Self. Toronto: Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Toronto.
• Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on 'Pudgalavāda'
• Thích, Thiện Châu (1984) The Literature of the Pudgalavādins, Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 7 (1), 7-16
• Thích, Thiện Châu, Boin-Webb, Sara (1999). The literature of the Personalists of early Buddhism, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass
• Thich Nhat Hanh. Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers, Riverhead Books, 1999
• Thich Nhat Hanh. Zen Keys, Three Leaves, 1994
• Dhamma Wheel discussion forum
• Dharma Wheel discussion forum