Buddhist Analysis of Matter

"The renowned Sri Lankan scholar Y. Karunadasa interprets the Buddhist view of matter as presented in Theravada Buddhism, based on the Abhidhamma, both of the earlier period containing the seven manuals of the Abhidhamma Pitaka and of the later period containing Abhidhammic commentaries, sub-commentaries, and such compendiums as the Abhidhammatthasan gaha of A cariya Anuruddha. In order to bring the subject into a wider perspective and for more precision, Karunadasa considers the (non-Theravada) Vaibha s Đika and Sautra ntika schools of Buddhism-two of the leading non-Maha ya na schools with whom the Therava dins 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. Earlier works 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. Now, this book gives us the first clear picture of the Buddhist analysis of matter as such. It 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"--