Buddhist Images of Human Perfection

All forms of Buddhism – the Theravada, the Mahayana and the Vajrayana – affirm the perfectability of the person, and one finds this notion of perfection embodied in three images the arahant, the bodhisattva and the mahasiddha. One also finds, in scholarly treatments of Buddhism, much made of the perceived differences among these three ‘vehicles’ (yana). Katz criticizes this emphasis on differences and prefers to treat Buddhism as a whole, a position he finds in accord with the teachings of both Buddhists and Buddhist texts. By a close examination of these three images of human perfection, bridges among the Theravada, the Mahayana and the Vajrayana are built and continuities within Buddhism are explored. Much of this book is a re-examination of the arahant image as found in Theravada literature and as informed by issues raised by the literatures of the Mahayana and the Vajrayana. The arahant image is then compared with the bodhisattva and the mahasiddha. This comparison involves pioneering discussions of Buddhist philosophy of language and hermeneutics, which are facilitated by Kate’s familiarity with Pali, Sanskrit and Tibetan Buddhist texts as well as his sympathetic involvement with the living Buddhist tradition.