Working at this level of generalisation and abstraction is unlikely to remain satisfying for very long however. Now that we have the basic distinction between the two dimensions of Buddhism in mind, let us turn to consider more specifically where we can locate these two general aspects within actual Buddhist teachings. This will help us to see just how deeply embedded in basic Buddhism these two dimensions are, and it will also reveal more clearly their mutual complementarity. The developmental dimension of Buddhism is perhaps most readily evident in the very conception of the Dharma as a path (maarga), whether presented in the elaborate sequence of steps the Buddha describes in the Saamaññaphala Sutta of the Diigha Nikaaya or in the perhaps more familiar early doctrines of the 'three-fold teaching' (morality-meditation-wisdom) and the 'eight-fold path'. Here we can see the spiritual life advocated by the Buddha presented clearly in terms of a transformational soteriology, one that begins in a problematic state which is ultimately overcome, typically through the systematic cultivation of a variously detailed progression of positive mental and spiritual states or attainments. In this sense Buddhism offers an interesting parallel to the 'virtue tradition' of early and medieval Western thought.

We could explore many other expressions of this same vertical or developmental dimension of early Buddhism, looking for example at the four levels of meditative absorption (dhyaana), the five spiritual faculties (indriya), the seven limbs of Enlightenment (bodhya'nga), the stages of Arhathood, or the path of the twelve 'positive' causes and conditions (nidaana) taught by the Buddha in the Sa.myutta Nikaaya.4 but all of these are examples of the developmental dimension seen in terms of different aspects of the development of the individual practitioner. We will understand better how deeply this vertical axis runs, however, if we recognise in addition a more systemic level at which this dimension is also evident. Basic Buddhist cosmology provides the best illustrations of this second form of the developmental dimension. Consider for example the vertical array of the 'three world-levels' (triloka), which is further elaborated into a hierarchical taxonomy of six (or sometimes five) life-forms (gati): the gods, titans, humans, animals, pretas, and hell-beings. Not only does the spiritual life or path pursued by the individual have a crucial vertical dimension, but this verticality is built into the very structure of the Buddhist conception of the cosmos itself.

Many of the instances of the developmental dimension of Buddhism that I have cited so far originated in and are often given more prominence in the early Buddhism of the Elders (Theras), which is consistent with the generalisation I noted above regarding a relative difference of emphasis on the developmental and the relational between the two main divisions of Buddhism. I have also stressed however that these two dimensions are not mutually exclusive, and this will become more clear if we look also at instances of this verticality in the Mahaayaana tradition. First of all we must remember that all of the doctrines discussed so far retain their place (if not necessarily the same degree of emphasis) within the Mahaayaana. The vertical dimension is never simply discarded: even when the Zen and Pure Land schools explore the dangers of taking 'developmental' language in any overly literalistic way, they still maintain the crucial-and essentially vertical-distinction between the experience of Enlightenment and the perpetuation of suffering. The Mahaayaana thus retains the verticality of the earlier tradition, but its recognition of this dimension is hardly limited to a residual carry-over of themes from the earlier tradition.

Many doctrines considered distinctly Mahaayaana reflect the same vertical perspective of a developmental path. One sees this in the Bodhisattva ideal, which actually extends the older conception of the path in a spiritually significant way by stressing the importance of an altruistic motivation. The doctrines of the ten Bodhisattva stages (bhuumi) and the six (or ten) Bodhisattva virtues or perfections (paaramitaa) are central Mahaayaana themes, both of which figure importantly in the Yogaacaara elaboration of the spiritual map into a path of vision (dar'sana-maarga) followed by a path of cultivation or transformation (bhaavana-maarga). For all of its exploration of the relational axis, Mahaayaana thus remains just as fundamentally developmental, and this is true even of Zen where 'sudden Enlightenment' is expected to require a period-often quite a long period-of especially intensive practice.5

Turning next to the relational aspect, the horizontal axis of our grid, it will no doubt be teachings associated with the Mahaayaana that first come to mind. Ethically this dimension is obvious in the trans-personal and altruistic focus of the Bodhisattva ideal, and, ontologically, in the notions of interrelatedness derived from the emptiness doctrine ('suunyavaada) richly elaborated in the Perfection of Wisdom literature, the Avata.msaka, and other key Mahaayaana sutras. One key feature of the Mahaayaana was its insistence that the Buddha's Enlightenment was not so much a combination of wisdom and compassion as the realisation of a wisdom that must be compassion, by virtue of its insight into the fundamental interrelatedness of all existence. The very nature of the Buddha's Enlightenment was thus seen to be inter-relational, something that could only exist in the context of compassionate, altruistic activity. But again we must be careful not to assume that recognition of this relational dimension of the Buddha's Enlightenment was a purely Mahaayaana innovation.