14 Great Silences of the Buddha

Fourteen unanswered questions

A list of fourteen unanswered questions is presented in the texts of the Sanskrit tradition. This list contains the same ten questions presented in the Pāli texts, plus four additional questions.^{[1][4][5][note 2]}

The fourteen questions are grouped into four categories.^[1]

Questions concerning the existence of the world/universe in time:

Is it true that:

1. The world (loco) is eternal?^{[note 1]}

2. The world is not eternal?

3. The world is both eternal and not eternal?

4. The world is neither eternal nor not eternal?^{[note 3]}

Questions concerning the existence of the world/universe in space:

Is it true that:

5. The world is finite?

6. The world is infinite?

7. The world is both finite and infinite?

8. The world is niether finite or infinite?^{[note 3]}

Questions referring to personal identity:

Is it true that:

9. The soul and the body are the same thing?

10. The soul and the body are different things?

Questions referring to life after death:

Is it true that:

11. A Realized One exists after death?

12. A Realized One doesn’t exist after death?

13. A Realized One both exists and doesn’t exist after death?

14. A Realized One neither exists nor doesn’t exist after death?

The Buddha remained silent when asked these fourteen questions.