P.223

　　   INTRODUCTION

　　   A general kinship between the philosophy  of William
　　   James and certain  aspects  of Buddhist  thought  is
　　   immediately  apparent and frequently  noted.(1) This
　　   kinship is most apparent  in their shared conviction
　　   that  the  self  is  not  a  permanent   entity   or
　　   "soul-substance,''  but  is rather  an aggregate  of
　　   processes   (Buddhism's　　 skandhas)   including   a
　　   momentary series of states of consciousness  (James'
　　   "stream　　 of　　 consciousness"　　 and　　 Buddhism's
　　   cittasa.mtaana) .(2)  There   are,  however,  deeper
　　   comparisons  that  can  be made  between  James  and
　　   specific   Buddhist  thinkers.   For  instance,  the
　　   concept of "pure experience'' in the philosophies of
　　   James and Nishida Kitaroo have much in common. David
　　   Dilworth  has written  a splendid  essay on this,(3)
　　   and  my article  is meant  in a sense  to complement
　　   that study.  Dilworth  notes that the founder of the
　　   Kyoto  school  of Zen philosophy  was influenced  by
　　   James, having been introduced  to James' books by D.
　　   T.   Suzuki.(4)  Dilworth   explains   that   James'
　　   philosophy  struck  a familiar  chord  for  Nishida,
　　   highlighting  streams  of thought  that were already
　　   present in Buddhism, but fully enough absorbed  into
　　   the background  that  Nishida  was inspired  to make
　　   them explicit  once again, in the process adding the
　　   distinctive  touch of the religious genius for which
　　   he is renowned  in the global  philosophical  arena.
　　   The Kyoto school  of philosophy  in turn has come to
　　   the West and is stimulating  Western philosophy in a
　　   process  of cross-fertilization  that  characterizes
　　   the current international intellectual climate.

　　　　  The purpose  of this essay is to explore some of
　　   the similarities  between James and Buddhist thought
　　   that  rendered  the  Cantabrigian's   philosophy  so
　　   compatible  with Nishida's Zen philosophy.  In order
　　   to do this, I will  analyze  the  parallels  between
　　   James'   thought   and  that  of  early   Yogaacaara
　　   philosophy,one of the two main streams of Maahayaana
　　   philosophy in India.  Yogaacaara philosophy, no less
　　   than Madhyamaka, was familiar to and assimilated  by
　　   the formulators  of Ch'an in China.  What suggests a
　　   comparison  of William James and Yogaacaara Buddhism
　　   is the numerous parallels  between their analyses of