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Unreal Imagination Exists

Understanding the Buddha's paradoxical view of reality

Andrew Olendzki

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One of my favorite expressions from Buddhist literature is the three-word opening line of the Madhyantavibhaga, a late Sanskrit text attributed to Maitreya, the Buddha to come. The phrase, which nicely captures the subtle, paradoxical view of reality so unique to Buddhist thought, is abhutaparikalpo'sti, and translates as something like "unreal imagination exists."

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