Philosophy in the Samadhirajasutra

by Konstanty Regamsy

The Samadhirajasutra is one of the essential canonical texts of the Mahayana Buddhism. Dating from perhaps the second century it presents and early form of the doctrine of the void (sunyavada) one of the principal philosophical doctrines of the Mahayana. In this respect the Sutra is of fundamental philosophical importance; it is notably of major auhtority for the Madhyamaka school which is sunyavada par excellence. Konstanty Regamey (1907-1982) was born in Kiev of a Swisss family which had emigrated to Russia in the 19th century. He fled from Russia to Poland in 1917 and subsequently to Switzerland in 1945. He had a double career, being both a musical composer and and orientalist. In the domain of orientalism his perferred field was "Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit" which was the vehicle for the canonical literature of Mahayana Buddhism in India.