________________
93
whether Nirvana is completion or annihilation, not because he himself did not know these things, but because in his opinion the knowledge of these things "does not conduce to progress in holiness, because it does not contribute to peace and enlightenment." Buddha having revealed all that contributes to peace and enlightenment such as the truth and origin of suffering, the path that leads to Nirvana, expressly asked his disciples to let all that has not been revealed by him remain unrevealed. As M. Barth says
"The two characteristics which strike us at once in primitive Buddhism and which cer. tainly belong to the teaching of the master are the absence of every theological element and a conspicuous aversion to pure specula.
tion."
Dr. Oldenburg thinks that the claims of strict dialectic sequence support the hypothesis that the Buddhist Nirvana signifies extinction. He bases his argument on the fact that "a doctrine which contemplates a
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
