'Going off the Map'

Abstract

The early Buddhist exegetical text, the Nettippakara?a, apparently uniquely, describes the stages of the path as ‘transcendental dependent arising’ (lokuttara pa?icca-samupp?da), in contrast with the twelve nid?nas, called ‘worldly dependent arising’ (lokiya pa?icca-samupp?da). A close reading of the Nettippakara?ain relation to another, related, exegetical text, the Pe?akopadesa, reveals that the latter interprets the same stages of the path in a different way. More broadly, while the Pe?akopadesa takes pa?icca-samupp?dato refer only to the twelve nid?nas, the Nettippakara?a’s exegetical strategy takes pa?icca-samupp?dato refer to an over-arching principle of conditionality, both ‘worldly’ and ‘transcendental’. This exegesis has proved popular with modern western Buddhist exegetes.