The Prajñāpāramitā genre is well known for its generic rhetorical formula “X is not X”, i.e. an affirmation followed immediately by a negation. Often the text proceeds to claim that the ultimate is inexpressible, non-dual, emptiness (śūnyatā). The Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa displays a similar rhetoric and philosophy. Despite this general consensus on Prajñāpāramitā philosophy and rhetoric, modern scholarship largely considers that these texts were random compilations, leading to their chaotic lack of structure. The plot of the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa is often considered inconsequential to its philosophy. There thus remains the problem of structured philosophy in a chaotic text. This paper will argue that the Prajñāpāramitā and the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa are not structurally random, but chiastic in form. This inverted parallelism takes the form A-B-C-…-X-…-C’-B’-A’. This literary form is the ideal vehicle for contrasting the two complementary sides of an apparent paradox (A-A’, B-B’, etc.), while situating an ultimately transcendent solution at its unique core (X).
目次
CONTENTS I ABSTRACT 1 STRUCTURE AND RHETORIC IN EARLY MAHĀYĀNA SĭTRAS 2 CHAOTIC MESS OR CHIASTIC TEXT? 2 Chaotic Mess? 2 Chiastic Text? 3 Chiastic Structures in Two Texts 4 APOPHATIC RHETORIC 6 ٵXY is not Y ٶin the Prajñāpāramitā 7 ٵNon-Duality ٶin the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa 9 STRUCTURE MEETS RHETORIC: CHIASMUS AND APOPHASIS 10 REFERENCES 12
