Śivaïsme et bouddhisme philosophiques : une influence réciproque ?
Résumé
In recent decades the complex relationship between Buddhist and Śaiva movements has attracted much scholarly attention among historians of Medieval India, and it is now beyond doubt that the tantric Buddhist traditions have largely borrowed from their Śaiva counterparts. Thus far, however, the current debate over the nature and direction of influence between Buddhist and Śaiva religions has mainly focused on tantric practices and iconography; but what of the connections between Buddhist and Śaiva philosophical systems? Several recent studies have shown that Śaiva philosophical literature is in fact pervaded by Buddhist notions. The present article, while providing a brief overview of these findings, also deals with a related question still largely unexplored by historians of Indian philosophy, namely: did Śaiva philosophers too influence their Buddhist rivals? The paper points out that no indisputable evidence has been adduced to date in support of the thesis of a Śaiva impact on Buddhist epistemologists; it contrasts this apparent lack of Buddhist interest for Śaiva philosophical works with the Śaivas’ blatant fascination for Buddhist logic and epistemology; and it ventures an explanation of this striking disparity by emphasizing that the two religions seem to have heavily borrowed from each other only in areas (such as the field of tantric practices for the Buddhists, and the philosophical arena for the Śaivas) where their rivals were conspicuously successful and had acquired a significant amount of prestige.
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