Mind, Text, and Reality in Buddhist Studies

This volume brings together contributions from North America, UK, Europe and Asia into a single volume to advance the field of scholarship and to celebrate Rupert Gethin’s immense contribution to Buddhist studies.

The essays include explorations of Buddhist teachings, Abhidharma and scriptural studies and cover the fields of research that engage Rupert Gethin’s scholarship: Buddhist cosmology, textual translations, Abhidharma and the interface between Buddhism and modern science.

Scholars address themes associated with Buddhist thought and practice, including philosophy of mind and the relationship between artificial intelligence and Buddhist ethics. Translations and analyses of a variety of written materials span several genres and ages: Gandhari manuscripts, Vinaya commentaries, Buddhist Sanskrit imagery and late Thai cosmological texts. To acknowledge Rupert Gethin’s important and expansive contribution to the field of Abhidharma, the book explores Abhidharma terms, commentaries and texts associated with early Buddhist schools.

As well as commemorating Rupert Gethin’s scholarship and teaching, which has informed a generation of students of Indian Religions, readers benefit from scholarship written by respected authors from across the word. The volume highlights the intricacies of Abhidharma across texts, the interplay of Buddhism and modern technology, and how imagery shared between Pali and Sanskrit illuminates doctrine.