The Comparative Study on the Theories of Perception between Sarvāstivāda and Sautrāntika

Abstract

The Sarvāstivāda assumed that perception (*buddhi) is a direct process, while the Sautrāntika believed that the object is perceived indirectly. The Sarvāstivāda recognized “tri-temporal existence”, while the Sautrāntika insisted that the past and the future do not actually exist. The Sarvāstivāda assumed that the physical assemblage (*saṃcaya) of atoms (paramāṇu) can be directly perceived, and refined the theory of presentational perception. The Sautrāntika, on the other hand, based on the “pursuannt element” (anudhātu), proposed the theory of “consciousness having representational form (ākāra)”. Therefore, the cognition of the external object is indirect, and the direct object of cognition is the unified complex (*sārnagrī) of atoms, by which the Sautrāntika refined its theory of representational perception.