•  421
    Candrakīrti on the Use and Misuse of the Chariot Argument
    Journal of Indian Philosophy 51 (4): 1-20. 2023.
    The publication in 2015 (ed. Li) of Chap. 6 of the rediscovered Sanskrit text of Candrakīrti’s Madhyamakāvatāra (MA) allows us to witness more directly Candrakīrti’s careful and deliberate critique of the ‘chariot argument’ for the merely conventional existence of the self in Indian Abhidharmic thought. I argue that in MA 6.140–141, Candrakīrti alludes to the use of the chariot argument in the Milindapañha as negating only the view of a permanent self (compared to an elephant), rather than negat…Read more
  •  410
    "This Being, That Becomes": Reconsidering the imasmiṃ sati Formula in Early Buddhism
    Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 45. 2022.
    This article investigates the original meaning of dependent arising in the Buddha’s teaching, by focussing on the imasmi" sati formula. Modern scholars such as the Rhys Davidses, K.N. Jayatilleke and Paul Williams have interpreted it as a princi- ple of causation, comparable to a scientific conception of causation. I argue instead that this formula implies that the Buddha held that causation is nothing more than the correlation of causes and effects, and that it commits the Buddha to a Humean re…Read more
  •  7
    Like the Rhinoceros, or Like Its Horn? The Problem of Khaggavis??a Revisited
    Buddhist Studies Review 31 (2): 165-178. 2015.
    The Pāli expression khaggavisāṇakappo may either mean ‘like the rhinoceros’ or ‘like the horn of the rhinoceros’. It occurs in the refrain eko care khaggavisāṇakappo at the end of each stanza of the Khaggavisāṇasutta and its parallels, and the refrain has been translated by some as ‘one should wander alone like the rhinoceros’ but by some, including K.R. Norman, as ‘one should wander alone like the horn of the rhinoceros’. K.R. Norman has however set out his reasons for regarding ‘like the rhino…Read more
  •  471
    'Going off the Map': Dependent Arising in the Nettippakaraṇa
    Buddhist Studies Review 36 (2): 167-190. 2020.
    The early Buddhist exegetical text, the Nettippakarana, apparently uniquely, describes the stages of the path as ‘transcendental dependent arising’ (lokuttara paticca-samuppada), in contrast with the twelve nidanas, called ‘worldly dependent arising’ (lokiya paticca-samuppada). A close reading of the Nettippakarana in relation to another, related, exegetical text, the Petakopadesa, reveals that the latter interprets the same stages of the path in a different way. More broadly, while the Petakopa…Read more
  •  21
    Book review: Buddhist Spiritual Practices by Fiordalis (review)
    Buddhist Studies Review 36 (2): 289-291. 2020.
  •  30
    Why Did Brahmā Ask the Buddha to Teach?
    Buddhist Studies Review 26 (1): 85-102. 2009.
    The episode of Brahmā’s request to the Buddha to teach has been regarded as problematic from early times, since it suggests that the Buddha was ini- tially lacking in compassion. Comparison of versions of the story shows it to be possibly pre-Aśokan in origin. A close reading of themes in the episode in relation to other incidents in the Buddha’s life described in the Pali canon show that it need not be taken as portraying an actual experience of the Buddha. The original purpose of the episode w…Read more