Early Buddhism resources

Textual analysis and comparative discussion on early Buddhist sects and scriptures.
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ancientbuddhism
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Re: Early Buddhism resources

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He Who Sees Dhamma Sees Dhammas: Dhamma in Early Buddhism, by Rupert Gethin
  • PRELIMINARY REMARKS: BUDDHISM AND DHARMA

    The basic subject of the present article is the understanding of the concept of dharma in early Buddhist literature – in the Nikāyas/Āgamas and the early abhidhamma/abhidharma texts. As it is clear that early Buddhist texts were composed in some form of Middle Indic and as my main sources will be Pali texts I shall generally use the Pali Middle Indic form dhamma. [fn.1] There are three basic problems that I think need to be considered in order to present a clear account of the distinctively Buddhist understanding of dhamma: (1) we need to establish the range of meanings found in early Buddhist literature; (2) we need to consider the relationship between those different meanings and how they evolved; (3) we need also to consider the relationship of the distinctively Buddhist usage of dhamma to the usage and understanding of dharma more generally in Indian literature and thought, and especially in early Brahmanical writings. These problems are, of course, not entirely separable. Clearly how we map out the different early Buddhist uses and their relationship will affect how we understand the Buddhist usage in relation to the non-Buddhist usage. But equally how we map out the different early Buddhist uses and their relationship in the first place, depends in part on how we understand the Buddhist usage in relation to the non-Buddhist usage. Moreover, the complexities and subtleties of the broader Brahmanical and ‘Hindu’ usage mean that there is hardly a scholarly consensus on how best to pick up and follow the trail of the elusive spirit of dharma beyond the field of Buddhist literature. In the present context, then, what I should like to do is devote some space first of all to a consideration of the range of meanings dhamma has in early Buddhist texts, and then move on to a consideration of the evolution and development of the distinctively Buddhist usage and how that might relate to Vedic and early Brahmanical usage.

    fn.1. I make no attempt in what follows to distinguish what the Buddha taught from what the Nikāyas/Āgamas in general teach. This does not mean that I consider that the Buddha taught everything just as the Nikāyas/Āgamas say he did. It does mean, however, that I think there are serious methodological flaws in attempting to distinguish in the Nikāyas/Āgamas two clear categories consisting of ‘authentic’ teachings of the Buddha on the one hand and later ‘inauthentic’ interpretations on the other. It follows from this that my drawing principally on the Pali sources is not to be taken as indicating that they are necessarily a more ‘authentic’ witness of early Buddhist thought – apart from the obvious fact that they are preserved in an ancient Indian language which must be relatively close to the kind of dialect or dialects used by the Buddha and his first disciples – than the Chinese Āgamas. In any case, it would seem that any account of early Buddhist thought based on the Chinese
    Āgamas would be essentially similar to an account based on the Pali Nikāyas. As Étienne Lamotte has observed, the doctrinal basis common to the Chinese Āgamas and Pali Nikāyas is remarkably uniform; such variations as exist affect only the mode of expression or the arrangement of topics; see Lamotte (1988, p. 156).
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Re: Early Buddhism resources

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Dharma in Hinduism, by Paul Hacker
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Re: Early Buddhism resources

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Re: Early Buddhism resources

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The Origin and Development of Early Indian Contemplative Practices

By Edward Fitzpatrick Crangle

Studies in Oriental Religions, Vol. 29 (1994)
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Re: Early Buddhism resources

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Re: Early Buddhism resources

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Re: Early Buddhism resources

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Re: Early Buddhism resources

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Re: Early Buddhism resources

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Cross Currents in Early Buddhism, by S. N. Dube.

On the doctrinal controversies reflected in the Kathavatthu.

___

On a meta- note, I wonder if this is a repeat, as it's an old book... perhaps some indexing here would help? I'll get to it later, perhaps, time permitting.
  • "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

    "And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.

- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]
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Re: Early Buddhism resources

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daverupa wrote:Cross Currents in Early Buddhism, by S. N. Dube.

On the doctrinal controversies reflected in the Kathavatthu.

___

On a meta- note, I wonder if this is a repeat, as it's an old book... perhaps some indexing here would help? I'll get to it later, perhaps, time permitting.
This is a good one. I should put it on my to do list.

wrt meta-note: Indexing would be helpful, I have been checking for sources and repeats at DW with reverse-search via-google.
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Re: Early Buddhism resources

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Re: Early Buddhism resources

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The ‘Five Points’ and the Origins of the Buddhist Schools, by L.S. Cousins

The Buddhist Forum, Vol. II, Seminar Papers 1988-90, pp. 27 – 60
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Re: Early Buddhism resources

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Last edited by ancientbuddhism on Wed Sep 05, 2012 8:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Early Buddhism resources

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Good one.

I wonder how the Northern Abhidharmikas would have reacted to DN 9's explanation for how these "thoughtless" states are attained. The Abhidharmikas' debate on "factors" inducing thoughtless states might have some validity for the Jhanas and Arupas, but would not be able to accomodate the asaṅkhata nature of the Attainment of Cessation.
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Re: Early Buddhism resources

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Indian Buddhism, by A. K. Warder
Last edited by ancientbuddhism on Wed Sep 05, 2012 8:46 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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