Journal of the Pali Text Society. IX. Ed. by K. R. Norman. PTS and distributed by Routledge, Kegan Paul Ltd, London 1981. viii + 207 pp. £10.

Journal of the Pali Text Society, Volume XXVII. Edited by O. von Hinüber and R.F. Gombrich. Pali Text Society, Oxford 2002. 183 pp. £18.75. ISBN 0 86013 407 5.

Journal of the Pali Text Society, Volume XXVI. Edited by O. von Hinüber and R.F. Gombrich. Pali Text Society, Oxford 2000. 234 pp. £15.00. ISBN 0 86013 391 5.

Journal of the Pali Text Society. Volumes XXII-XXIV. Ed. O. von Hinüber ad R. F. Gombrich. Pali Text Society, Oxford 1996, 1997, 1998. £17.25 each. ISBN 086013 333 8; 0 86013 356 7; 0 86913 364 8.

Journal of the Pali Text Society. Volumes XIX-XXI, Pali Text Society, Oxford 1993, 1994, 1995. £17.25 each.

Journal of the Pali Text Society XII. Pali Text Society, Oxford 1988. v, 217 pp. £12.25.

Journal of the Pali Text Society, Volume XXV. Ed. by O. von Hinuber & R. F. Gombrich. Oxford 1999. £17.25. ISBN 0 86013 372 9.

Journal of the Pali Text Society. Vols XIV-XVIII, PTS, Oxford 1990, 1990, 1992, 1992, 1993. £13.50 each.

This is an internationally acclaimed translation of a classic Buddhist text, presented in both Pali and English by one of India's foremost philosophers and religious authorities. S. Radhakrishan provides full explanatory notes to the text, as well as an introductory essay about Gautama Buddha, who, from very early times, was believed to have uttered the verses of the Dhammapada.

Abhidhamma Studies at the British Buddhist Association, London, and a Review of A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma. The Abhidhammattha Sangaha. Pali Text, Translation & Explanatory Guide, Bhikkhu Bodhi, General Editor. Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy 1993, 432 pp. $20.00.

Sangharakkhita's Vuttodaya: a study of Pali metre. Pali text and translated into English by R. Siddhartha. Preface by Professor J. W. de Jong. Sri Satguru Publications, India 1981. Distributed by Indian Books Centre, Delhi. v + 54pp. Rs. 50.

Pali Buddhist Texts explained to the beginner. Rune E. A. Johansson. Scandinavian Institute of Aisan Studies Monograph Series No. 14, Copenhagen. 152 pp. £3.30.

Pali Buddhist Texts-explained to the Beginner. Rune. E. A. Johansson. Scandinavian Institute of Asian Studies Monograph Series No. 14 Curzon Press, London, Second edition, revised and enlarged, 1977 160 pp. £4.00.

Sacred Books of the Buddhists Series : Minor Anthologies III - Chronicle of Buddhas and Basket on Conduct. Tr. I. B. Horner. PP. lvi + 108; xvi + 52. £6.75. Minor Anthologies IV - Stories of the Mansions and Stories of the Departed. Tr. I. B. Horner and H. S. Gehman. PP. xxv + 159; xiv + 110. £4.50.

The Sārasaṅgaha is a Pāli text of XIIth–XIIIth century by the Sinhalese monk Siddhattha Thera. Its themes include the aspiration to become a Buddha, shrines, meditation, theories on rain, wind, gender and more. The main body consists of citations from the Nikāyas, the Jātakas, the Visuddhimagga and above all, from commentarial literature. By analysing the way the Sārasaṅgaha refers to and establishes a dialogue with the quoted works, this paper promotes a new assessment of the cultural and textual tendencies that (...) influenced the development of Buddhist literature especially in the Middle Ages. In particular, the analysis of this text and the quotations of which it is composed reveals the importance of commentarial literature, a literary genre that only recently has attracted the attention of Pāli scholars. (shrink)

In this paper, I provide a philosophical analysis of Pāli texts that treat of a special kind of mental event called bhavaṅga citta. This mental event is a primal sentient consciousness, a passive form of basal awareness that individuates sentient beings as the type of being that they are. My aims with this analysis are twofold, one genealogical and reconstructive, the other systematic. On the genealogical and reconstructive side, I argue for a distinction between two kinds of continuity that (...) are at work in explaining the temporal structure of experience in Pāli Buddhist philosophy. Call these two forms of continuity ‘diachronic’ and ‘affective-motivational’ continuity, respectively. In my analysis of these two forms of continuity, I will focus on the coherence of bhavaṅga citta in its Abhidhammic context. My contention is that the commentarial account of bhavaṅga citta has the resources to explain diachronic continuity but struggles to give a fully workable account of affective-motivational continuity. I argue that the novel view of mental continuity offered by the early twentieth century Burmese monastic exegete Ledi Sayadaw offers another intriguing account of mental continuity, one that can help to explain affective-motivational continuity. Systematically speaking, in spelling out the dynamics of this distinction between types of mental continuity in connection with bhavaṅga, I offer a cross-cultural philosophical analysis of the deep structure of the mind and how affective processes below the threshold of ordinary habits of attention have a profound conditioning effect on our conscious relationship with the world. (shrink)

Pali classical grammars reflect a specific idea of what Pali Buddhist texts are. According to this traditional idea, texts are mainly conceived as sound and therefore the initial portions of every grammar deal with sound and sound ligature or sandhi. Sandhi in Pali does not work as systematically as it does in Sanskrit and therefore Pali grammarians have struggled with the optionality of many of their rules on sound ligature. Unlike modern linguists, however, they (...) identify certain patterns of fixed or frozen sandhis that are often associated to the formulas of Pali prose. This paper focuses on these specific frozen sandhis in Pali prose and their connection to the nature of Pali literature broadly. The main working hypothesis is the following: in the same way that certain frozen sandhis in verse obey metrical patterns, frozen sandhis in prose suggest that Pali speech-sounds are subordinated to formulaic rhythmic structures. (shrink)

In this paper, I provide a philosophical analysis of Pāli texts that treat of a special kind of mental event called bhavaṅga citta. This mental event is a primal sentient consciousness, a passive form of basal awareness that individuates sentient beings as the type of being that they are. My aims with this analysis are twofold, one genealogical and reconstructive, the other systematic. On the genealogical and reconstructive side, I argue for a distinction between two kinds of continuity that (...) are at work in explaining the temporal structure of experience in Pāli Buddhist philosophy. Call these two forms of continuity ‘diachronic’ and ‘affective-motivational’ continuity, respectively. In my analysis of these two forms of continuity, I will focus on the coherence of bhavaṅga citta in its Abhidhammic context. My contention is that the commentarial account of bhavaṅga citta has the resources to explain diachronic continuity but struggles to give a fully workable account of affective-motivational continuity. I argue that the novel view of mental continuity offered by the early twentieth century Burmese monastic exegete Ledi Sayadaw (1846–1923) offers another intriguing account of mental continuity, one that can help to explain affective-motivational continuity. Systematically speaking, in spelling out the dynamics of this distinction between types of mental continuity in connection with bhavaṅga, I offer a cross-cultural philosophical analysis of the deep structure of the mind and how affective processes below the threshold of ordinary habits of attention have a profound conditioning effect on our conscious relationship with the world. (shrink)

The Pali Atthakatha Correspondence Table. Sodo Mori, Y. Karunadasa, Toshiichi Endo. Pali Text Society, Oxford 1994. xxvii, 213 pp. £12.50.

A Pali Grammar. William Geiger. Translated into English by Batakrishna Ghosh, revised and edited by K. R. Norman. Pali Text Society, Oxford 1994. xxix, 220 pp. Hardback £12.95, paperback £6.75.

And the Bactrian King, a possible convert to Buddhism, responds at this point, " Well said, Nagasena! So it is, and as such I accept it." Conclusion Between the times of these two apparently contradictory texts about nirvana, the Mahavagga and ...

In the Pāli Canon fear is a twofold mental factor: it can be an obstacle to the liberation’s path or a spur for awareness. This paper cIn the Pāli Canon fear is a twofold mental factor: it can be an obstacle to the liberation’s path or a spur for awareness. This paper collects some examples – the story of Anāthapiṇḍaka, the encounters between Māra and the Buddha or his disciples – of the way in which fear can be turned into (...) courage. ollects some examples – the story of Anāthapiṇḍaka, the encounters between Māra and the Buddha or his disciples – of the way in which fear can be turned into courage. (shrink)

This article deals with quotatives–overt marks that indicate quotations–consisting in iti/ti or containing vuttaṃ which are used in Pāli commentarial literature to signal the occurrence of a quotation. We distinguish two types, namely, “general quotatives” and “individual quotatives”. The former are universally valid. They are widely acknowledged and used in various text corpora over several centuries. The latter are defined by an author solely for usage in his commentary. In the first part of our contribution we describe the implications connected (...) with the usage of quotatives, and depict the specific problems which may arise when a text including “individual quotatives” is tacitly borrowed. In the second part we present some of the most common “general quotatives” formed with the words iti/ti and vuttaṃ. We aim at pointing out in which text layers a quotative is applied, for which text layers it is used, when it was in and when out of fashion. (shrink)

David Webster explores the notion of desire as found in the Buddhist Pali Canon. Beginning by addressing the idea of a 'paradox of desire', whereby we must desire to end desire, the varieties of desire that are articulated in the Pali texts are examined. A range of views of desire, as found in Western thought are presented as well as Hindu and Jain approaches. An exploration of the concept of ditthi (view or opinion) is also provided, exploring (...) the way in which 'holding views' can be seen as analogous to the process of desiring. Other subjects investigated include the mind-body relationship, the range of Pali terms for desire, and desire's positive spiritual value. A comparative exploration of the various approaches completes the work. (shrink)

In this paper, I show that in the Pāli Canon there was a tradition of Buddhist logic, but this tradition was weak, and the proto-logic we can reconstruct on the basis of the early Pāli texts can be evaluated as a predecessor of the Hindu logic. According to the textual analysis of the Pāli texts, we can claim that at the time of the closing of the Pāli Canon there did not exist the Nyāya philosophy known by the (...) Nyāya Sūtra. Meanwhile, we can assume that the Milindapañha, the best logical source of early Pāli literature, was written under influences of the Gandhāran Buddhists and this text preceded the Nyāya philosophy. (shrink)

Style and Function: A Study of the dominant stylistic features of the prose portions of Pali canonical sutta texts and their mnemonic function. Mark Allon. The Internatioal Institute for Buddhist Studies, Tokyo 1997. xiv, 394 pp. ISBN 4-906267-40-8.

A Dictionary of Pali, Part I, A-Kh. Margaret Cone. Pali Text Society, Oxford 2001. xxiv, 778 pp. £25.00. ISBN 0 86013 394 X.

In this paper I investigate a number of public intellectual debates in current Thai Theravada Buddhism that are related to several fundamental questions regarding the meaning and function of the Pali canon. The focal point of this investigation will be debates in which the Thai scholar monk Phra Payutto (b. 1939) has been playing a significant role. In these debates, the Pali canon is regarded as a central text endowed with special normative and formative authority. I will look (...) at contestations that concern Theravada-ness and, at the same time, and inextricably linked with this, at concepts of demarcation to systems of religious beliefs and practices that are believed to be ‘outside’ Theravada. This, of course, engages the question of inclusivism, exclusivism and pluralism within Theravada. In so doing, I explore and posit concepts on the meanings and functions of the Pali canon that position it either as the or an authoritative reference. (shrink)

The Theragatha of the Khuddakanikaya has only ten stanzas uttered by the Elder Kaludayi. However, the Madhuratthavilasini, the commentary to the Buddhavamsa preserves 64 stanzas ascribed to the Elder while the Visuddhajanavilasini, the commentary to the Apad?na quotes a different series consisting of 48 stanzas ascribed to him. It is probable that these two series contain ancient verses which could not be accommodated within the Pali canon and then continued to be preserved in the commentaries as extra-canonical texts. (...) Yet some of the verses in these two series appear to be later compositions. The present article offers a literal translation of the Bv-a and the Ap-a verses, which have so far received no scholarly attention. (shrink)

When compared with the Pāli versions of the Nanda tale—the story of the ordainment and liberation of the Buddha’s half-brother—some of the peculiar features of Aśvaghoṣa’s telling in the Saundarananda come to the fore. These include the enticing love games that Nanda plays with his wife Sundarī before he follows Buddha out of the house, and the powerful, troubling scene in which Buddha forces Nanda to ordain. While the Pāli versions are aware of fantastic elements such as the flight to (...) the Himālayas, and while each adds its own unique emphases that re-shape the events, none raise such deep ambivalence as done by Aśvaghoṣa. The Comparison of the different tellings then raises a more general theoretical point in relation to Buddhist literature—that genre defines the special features of each adaptation of the story, rather than any historical conditions regarding transmission; the versions each conform to the specific intellectual context of the text that appropriates them. This understanding allows an advancement of the idea of genre in Buddhist canonical and semi-canonical texts. (shrink)

Analyses The Problems Of Understanding Exegesis And Translation. Scrutinises Peculiariaties Of Grammar, Syntax, Diction, Style And Metaphor In Various Languages And Their Forms-Prose, Poetry, Drama Etc In India And Western Tradition-In English, German, French, Greek, Sanskrit And Pali Texts. Emphazises The Importance Of Classical Languages In Which Religion And Philosophical Works Have Been Written.

The Dispeller of Delusion I. Translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Ñanamoli and revised for publication by L.S. Cousins, Nyanaponika Mahathera and C.M.M. Shaw. Sacred Books of the Buddhists XL, Pali Text Society, London 1987. xv, 359 pp. £18.00.

This study explores some of the connections between the presentation of religious ideas and the use of concessive clauses and sentences in Pāli Buddhist literature. Special emphasis is placed on the linguistic construction kiñcāpi... atha kho.... Although this is widely understood to be a concessive and correlative construction and is often translated in ways that adequately reproduce the meaning of the Pāli, still it is the case that the kiñcāpi... atha kho... construction is sometimes misrepresented. Surprisingly, misrepresentations of said construction (...) are especially prevalent in an ever-growing body of work related to one Pāli text in particular, the Tevijja Sutta. This has helped to obscure the extent to which the sutta is a response to developments in Brahmanical theology external to the text itself. This study examines this unwelcome situation and proposes a remedy. (shrink)

Hesperides Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

This article examines Sanskrit and Pali conceptions of contempt, and explores how they work in a number of ancient Indian genres, with a sustained focus on the Rāmāyaṇa. The article argues that while Indian texts often analyze emotion words and concepts systematically and with intricate granularity, contempt was not seen as an interior state to be theorized or managed therapeutically or morally. Rather, words for contempt are used to describe behaviors, etiquette, and social relationships, and are principally concerned (...) with stipulating social status. (shrink)