The Indian Buddhist philosopher Vasubandhu (fourth-fifth century C.E.)
is known for his critical contribution to Buddhist Abhidharma thought,
his turn to the Mahayana tradition, and his concise, influential
Yogacara-Vijñanavada texts. Paving the Great Way reveals another
dimension of his legacy: his integration of several seemingly
incompatible intellectual and scriptural traditions, with far-ranging
consequences for the development of Buddhist epistemology and the
theorization of tantra.
Most scholars read Vasubandhu's texts in isolation and separate his
intellectual development into distinct phases. Featuring close studies
of Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakosabhasya, Vyakhyayukti, Vimsatika, and
Trisvabhavanirdesa, among other works, this book identifies recurrent
treatments of causality and scriptural interpretation that unify
distinct strands of thought under a single, coherent Buddhist
philosophy. In Vasubandhu's hands, the Buddha's rejection of the self as
a false construction provides a framework through which to clarify
problematic philosophical issues, such as the nature of moral agency and
subjectivity under a broadly causal worldview. Recognizing this
continuity of purpose across Vasubandhu's diverse corpus recasts the
interests of the philosopher and his truly innovative vision, which
influenced Buddhist thought for a millennium and continues to resonate
with today's philosophical issues. An appendix includes extensive
English-language translations of the major texts discussed.
