ABSTRACT
It is sometimes assumed that The Perfection of Insight sutras are either historically or doctrinally prior to The Lotus Sutra or The Teaching of Vimalakcrti, as if the latter were more popular offshoots off the main tree. Yet when all is said and done there is no clear knowledge about the dating of these early Mahayana sutras, so that precise historical relationships cannot be determined. They are all composite, and even rough attempts at dating consist mainly in pushing back presumed phases of growth into a plausible distance from the earliest Chinese versions. Above all, even though it may be possible to discern the main outlines of development within a single corpus, it really seems to be impossible to correlate with any sureness the presumed developmental phases of two or three sutras with each other. As to the contents, one party might take the more ‘philosophical’ parts to be the most fundamental, while another might take a system such as Chih-I’s to show the supremacy of The Lotus Sutra. Yet the nonpartisan observer finds difficulty in driving a wedge of any strength between the various materials to be considered. They are all neither other than nor less than thoroughly Mahayanist. There are certain differences of emphasis. It may fairly be said that The Lotus Sutra is more attentive to the role of the Buddha and the right way of understanding his appearance, his teaching and his nirvana. The Teaching of Vimalakcrti is more concerned with the polemics between the bodhisattva Vimalakcrti himself and narrower interpreters of Buddhism. The Perfection of Insight Sutras are mainly about bodhisattvas in general and their practice of the qualities which define them. Nevertheless all these writings have many features in common, including some important ones. In spite of various secondary elements all clearly contain the Mahayana teaching of voidness (Ch. kung, Skt. LEnyatA), all contain a radical critique of the received Buddhist tradition, and all take the concept of skilful means as a key to understanding the status or role of particular ideas or practices.
