Bodhicharyavatara Chapter 9, Stanzas 126-128

Here we are introduced briefly to another ancient Indian school of philosophy, that of the Mimamsakhya. This non-theistic school, which shares some aspects of the Buddhist understandings leads, as Rinpoche says, to rigorous debates between adherents of the two schools. The Samkhya School believes everything is created from an infinitesimal particle that cannot be divided, but adherents also believe this primary particle it has three qualities. The Samkhya view is that when the three qualities – pleasure, pain and neutrality – become imbalanced, they interact create new life forms.

With his usual acuity, Shantideva breaks down the Samkhya argument with a systematic logic, showing that a primal substance cannot have more than one aspect and a particle––no matter how infinitesimal it is––having three aspects cannot be identified as a single primary unit.

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