Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism
The major early systematic Western introduction to Mahayana Buddhism — Suzuki's 1907 first major English-language book
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism (Early (Suzuki's first major book; preceding the Essays in Zen Buddhism by twenty years)) |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Relational |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Non-Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Cyclical |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Infinite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Relational |
| Space · Curvature | Flat |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Non-local |
| Matter · Extent | Infinite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Emergent |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Multiple |
| Observer · Space Instance | Multiple |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Partial |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Immediate |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Both |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | None |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Tradition |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Infinite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Reversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Emergent |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Non-conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Non-conserved |
| Information · Granularity | Continuous |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism
The cyclical-Buddhist time framework of samsara and the historical-developmental time of Mahayana tradition.
Space
Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism
The geographic-cultural space of Mahayana development across India, China, Japan.
Matter
Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism
Embodied life in samsara; the Buddha-nature pervading all beings.
Observer
Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism
The Buddhist practitioner as observer; the bodhisattva as the ideal observer engaging the world.
Energy
Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism
The energies of the bodhisattva path; karma as the energetic principle.
Information
Outlines of Mahayana Buddhism
The Buddhist tradition's preserved wisdom in sutras and commentaries.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
The Outlines presents a particular early-twentieth-century synthesis of Mahayana that has been substantially complicated by subsequent scholarship. The relation between the systematic Outlines and the more experientialist Essays in Zen Buddhism (twenty years later) reflects Suzuki's philosophical development. Subsequent Buddhist studies (Bernard Faure, Robert Sharf) has identified Suzuki's framework as a particular modernist construction.