Buddyjskie koncepcje nietrwałości

THE BUDDHIST CONCEPTIONS OF IMPERMANENCEThe author traces the development of one of the central concepts of Buddhist thought, i.e. the category of impermanence (anityatā). He distinguishes two types of impermanence in sutras: anthropological and ontological ones. He then discusses the abhidharmic conception of the immediacy of conditioned dharmas which emerge out of Early Buddhist thought. On the basis of A. von Rospatt’s research findings, the author points out to the sources of the above doctrine. The author discusses in considerable detail the conceptions of the signs of what is conditioned (saÕsk®ta-lakÿana). The latter emerged out of the theory of the three phases of existence of conditioned dharmas. The Sarvāstivāda philosophers associated such signs with the conditioned dharmas which they regarded as momentary. In this way, they became entangled in insurmountable paradoxes, as according to them, a moment constitutes an indivisible unit of time. In order to avoid this pitfall, the Sautrāntikas did not associate the signs of the conditioned with individual dharmas, but with their continuum. Whereas the Theravāda philosophers did not regard a moment as indivisible which allowed them to refer individual signs to the different phases of dharma existence. The author also draws attention to the specific nature of the understanding of the concept of changeability within the Mahāyāna conception. This specificity is associated with the importance of the concept of emptiness (śūnyatā).