Claude.iconThere are certainly parallels between the ideas of Plotinus rumour (rumor) that something has leaked out and Avatamska sutra.

Both hold that there is an eternal, infinite, and absolute Being (“the One” or “reason”) at the “source of all things,” and that “individual things” are outflows or branches from that Being.

The difference, however, is that the outflow theory holds that the One and all things are separate entities and that the One itself is not changed by the outflow, whereas the Kegonkyō holds that reason and matter are connected at the root and that reason and matter can shift without hindrance by changing viewpoints.

The outflow theory also states that one can “return to Oneness” through eros (love) and ecstasy (experience of forgetfulness), a concept that is similar to the unobstructed enlightenment of the Kegonkyō Sutra.

However, there is also a difference in that, according to the outflow theory, union with the One can only be experienced very rarely, whereas in the Kegonkyō, anyone can attain the enlightenment of directorless hindrance.

Overall, it seems that Plotinus’ theory of outflow and the Kegon sutra share the basic idea that individuals are created from the primordial One of all things, but there are some differences in the relationship between the individual and the whole and in the way humans return to the primordial One. I think this is one of the interesting points of contact between Western philosophy and Buddhist thought.


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