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Lokottara-vāda

A Dictionary of Buddhism | 2004 | 700+ words | Copyright

Lokottara-vāda (Skt.). ‘The Supermundane School’, also known as ‘The One-utterance School’ (Ekavyavahāra), being a subdivision of the Mahāsaṃghika which taught that a Buddha in reality is endowed with a supermundane (lokottara) nature, omniscience, limitless power, and eternal life. It also taught the docetic doctrine that any physical manifestations or actions on earth undertaken by a Buddha are merely appearances or illusory projections performed to save beings. Little literature remains of this school with the exception of the Mahāvastu and the Bhiksunī Vinaya, or monastic rule for nuns. The Buddhological ideas of this school seem to have influenced the development of similar Mahāyāna concepts.

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