- 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).
Early Buddhism resources
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Re: Early Buddhism resources
He Who Sees Dhamma Sees Dhammas: Dhamma in Early Buddhism, by Rupert Gethin
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Re: Early Buddhism resources
Dharma in Hinduism, by Paul Hacker
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Re: Early Buddhism resources
The Riddle of the Jainas and Ājīvikas in Early Buddhist Literature, by Johannes Bronkhorst
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Re: Early Buddhism resources
The Origin and Development of Early Indian Contemplative Practices
By Edward Fitzpatrick Crangle
Studies in Oriental Religions, Vol. 29 (1994)
By Edward Fitzpatrick Crangle
Studies in Oriental Religions, Vol. 29 (1994)
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Re: Early Buddhism resources
Language and Reality: On an Episode in Indian Thought, by Johannes Bronkhorst
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Re: Early Buddhism resources
The Ideas and Meditative Practices of Early Buddhism, Tilmann Vetter
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Re: Early Buddhism resources
Linguistic and philogical data towards a chronology of Austronesian Activity in India and Sri Lanka, by Waruno Mahdi
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Re: Early Buddhism resources
Pāli Literature: Including the Canonical Literature in Prakrit and Sanskrit of All the Hīnayāna Schools of Buddhism, by K.R. Norman
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Re: Early Buddhism resources
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.
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
This is a good one. I should put it on my to do list.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.
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
Disputed Dharmas: Early Buddhist Theories on Existence – An Annotated Translation of the Section on Factors Dissociated from Thought from the Saṅghabhadra’s Nyāyānusāra, by Collett Cox, Tokyo (1995)
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Re: Early Buddhism resources
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
The Buddhist Forum, Vol. II, Seminar Papers 1988-90, pp. 27 – 60
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Re: Early Buddhism resources
Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks: Collected Papers on the Archaeology, Epigraphy, and Texts of Monastic Buddhism in India, by Gregory Schopen
Buddhist Monastic Life: According to the Texts of the Theravāda Tradition, by Mohan Wijayaratna
History of Buddhism in Ceylon: The Anurādhapura Period, 3rd Century BC – 10th Century AC, by Walpola Rahula
The Pāli Literature of Ceylon, by G.P. Malalasekera
Buddhist Monastic Life: According to the Texts of the Theravāda Tradition, by Mohan Wijayaratna
History of Buddhism in Ceylon: The Anurādhapura Period, 3rd Century BC – 10th Century AC, by Walpola Rahula
The Pāli Literature of Ceylon, by G.P. Malalasekera
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
Good one.ancientbuddhism wrote:Disputed Dharmas: Early Buddhist Theories on Existence – An Annotated Translation of the Section on Factors Dissociated from Thought from the Saṅghabhadra’s Nyāyānusāra, by Collett Cox, Tokyo (1995)
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
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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