[Buddha-l] Confused

[Dan Lusthaus]

> It reminds me of the early Samkhya philosophy, where the ego is a
> product of buddhi or intelligence, which is a product of puruśa or mind.
> Was not one of the teachers of the Buddha supposed to be a Samkhyin?
> erik

Minor correction. Buddhi is part of prakrti, one of the 24 tattvas on the 
prakrti -- not purusa -- side. It does have a special relationship with 
purusa, however, in that it reflects the light of purusa, lighting up the 
rest of prakrti. According to classical Samkhya, purusa is entirely 
non-causal, only prakrti causes anything, i.e., produces "products."

There is no mention of Samkhya in the Pali Nikayas that I am aware of 
(anyone have controverting evidence?), but Asvaghosa does have Samkhya play 
an important role in Gautama's education -- he depicts Buddha's awakening as 
basically going just one step beyond Samkhya.

Dan