Tathaagata has not the closed fist of a teacher with
　　   regard   to   doctrines.'"(28)   From   the   modern
　　   Theravaadin  standpoint, Candrakiirti's  explanation
　　   attributes to the Buddha precisely such an inner and
　　   outer,  because  it  portrays  the  Buddha  teaching
　　   worldly  beings  (=  the  outer)  in  the  realistic
　　   manner, and then teaching those beings once they had
　　   become  disciples  (= the  inner) in the illusional
　　   manner. And going on with a still different teaching
　　   to  certain  advanced   disciples.   But  that  same
　　   scriptural passage from the traditional, last sermon
　　   of the Buddha  could  be taken  differently  than it
　　   usually   is,   and   perhaps   consistently　　 with
　　   Naagaarjuna's  verse as Candrakiirti  understood it.
　　   That is because the original  Paali (Diigha-Nikaaya,
　　   ii, 100) reads: mayaa dhammo  anantara.m  abaahira.m
　　   karitvaa  (By  me was the  Dhamma  preached  without
　　   inner, without  outer).  The phrase "without  inner,
　　   without  outer" can be restated  as "with neither an
　　   inner  nor an outer."  And then just as the "neutral
　　   feeling"  (neither pleasure  nor pain) is not either
　　   pleasure or pain, so also one could not determine if
　　   the Buddha's doctrine was either inner or outer, and
　　   one homogeneous  character, wearisome  by repetition
　　   of  the  same   doctrine   over   and  over   again.
　　   Naagaarjuna's

　　　　　　　　　　　　  P.10

　　   verse, by use of the word anu`saasana, seems to mean
　　   that the Tathaagata, without  the closed fist, would
　　   gladly  communicate  in a graduated  manner  so that
　　   disciples in different stages of progress could have
　　   a teaching suited to their particular  level.  While
　　   this  position  may not be agreeable  to some modern
　　   exponents  of the Theravaada  tradition, it is not a
　　   'Mahaayaana'  quarrel  with the earlier 'Hiinayaana'
　　   school, because  also Buddhaghosa  of the Theravaada
　　   tradition  in his  Atthasaalinii  insists  that  the
　　   Buddha's   teaching   was  fittingly   modified   in
　　   accordance with the varying inclinations of both men
　　   and gods.(29)

　　   III.  THE FOUR  ALTERNATIVES  APPLIED  TO CAUSATION,
　　   EACH DENIED

　　   Starting  with the Buddha's  first  sermon, the four
　　   Noble  Truths  have  been  a  basic  ingredient   of
　　   Buddhist  thinking  and attitudes.  Of these Truths,
　　   the first is the Noble  Truth  of Suffering;  and of