The Erosion of Ethics in Emptiness: Infallible Teachers and Inconsequential Matricide

By : Bhikkhu Anālayo

Page No: 1-42

Abstract
This article examines two passages taken from early Mahāyāna sūtras that exemplify a promotion of emptiness in a form that, I suggest, may contribute to a gradual erosion of the significance of ethical conduct. My argument proceeds by close textual analysis of these two case studies, each illustrating a distinct but related ethical dynamic.The first of these two cases, found in the earliest complete version of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā, appears to reflect an early stage in the emergence of the idea that perceived shortcomings of a Dharma teacher are reinterpreted as an expression of the latter’s skill in means (upāyakauśalya), effectively placing the teacher beyond critique. The second passage, found in the earliest extant Chinese translation of the Ajātaśatrukaukṛtyavinodanā-sūtra, employs emptiness rhetoric to dismantle the dire consequences of matricide and thereby undercuts the conventional link between unwholesome action and karmic fruition. Taken together, these two passages point to an early and internally diverse set of rhetorical strategies through which discourse on emptiness could be mobilized in ways that destabilize ethically principles.

Author :
Bhikkhu Anālayo: Barre Centre for Buddhist Studies, 149 Lockwood Road, Barre, MA 01005, USA.