Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies Vol. 7

The following volume constitutes the first one in a series devoted to Buddhist philosophy. It tries to to summarize the gist of these philosophical teachings, termed Abhidharma, from the first texts that developed after the Buddha up to and including the mammoth text called Mahavibhasa, generated from convention held in the first or second century A.D. The purpose behind this approach is to avoid imposing more divisions into Buddhism than are historically apparent. The scope of these volumes is limited to summaries of the texts that are of philosophical interest throughout, theoretical rather than practical in their intended function, and polemical or at least expository in a context where defense of one view among alternatives is appropriate. These criteria have been interpreted here broadly and loosely. In these volumes dealing with Buddhism, the original Sutras, the earliest literature regularly ascribed to the Buddha or his immediate disciples, is not summarized. The entire Encyclopedia has been planned to present as consistent an account as possible of the history of Indian philosophical thought, citing experts on the points that seem debatable.