The Buddhist Analysis of Matter

by Y. Karunadasa

Overview

A fluent English explanation of the Theravada Buddhist analysis of matter for serious students of Buddhist thought.

In The Buddhist Analysis of Matter, renowned scholar Y. Karunadasa interprets the Buddhist view of matter as presented in Theravada Buddhism, based on the Abhidhamma. His comprehensive work draws on both the earlier period containing the seven manuals of the Abhidhamma Pitaka and the later period containing Abhidhammic commentaries, sub-commentaries, and such compendiums as the Abhidhammatthasangaha of Acariya Anuruddha.

In order to bring the subject into a wider perspective, and for more precision, Karunadasa considers the (non-Theravada) Vaibhasika and Sautrantika schools of Buddhism—two of the leading non-Mahayana schools with whom the Theravadins had much in common, both of which subscribed to a realistic view of existence—as well as later sources such as the post-canonical commentaries and related literary sources of Theravada Buddhism.

This book gives us the first clear picture of the Buddhist analysis of matter as such. Earlier works on this subject have tended to focus on the broad philosophical implications arising from the Buddhist theory of matter and were based more on earlier sources, such as the Pali canonical texts. The Buddhist Analysis of Matter provides a much-needed micro view of the topic with a detailed examination of the Theravadins’ list of rupa-dammas—the ultimate irreducible factors into which material existence is analyzed. It exposes the basic material elements into which the whole of material existence is resolved and explains their interconnection and interdependence on the basis of conditional relations. It concludes with an understanding of the nature and relevance of the Buddhist analysis of matter in the context of Buddhism as a religion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781614294511
Publisher:	Wisdom Publications MA
Publication date:	09/22/2020
Pages:	280
Sales rank:	798,712
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Y. Karunadasa (PhD, University of London) is Professor Emeritus at the University of Kelaniya and a former director of its Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies. He has served as a visiting professor at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, as Distinguished Numata Chair at the University of Calgary, and as a visiting professor at the University of Toronto. Currently he is a visiting professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Hong Kong.

Table of Contents

Foreword Richard Gombrich ix

Preface xiii

1 Introduction 1

2 Definition of Matter and the Basic Material Factors 11

3 The Primary Elements 25

4 The Secondary Elements: Group A 43

5 The Secondary Elements: Group B 67

6 Classification of Material Elements 103

7 Correlation of Material Elements 129

8 Atomic Clusters 149

9 Time and Temporality 177

10 The Ethico-Philosophical Basis of the Buddhist Analysis of Matter 187

Abbreviations 201

Notes 205

Bibliography 235

Index 243

About the Author 261