The centrality of experience in the teachings of early Buddhism

Hamilton, Sue (2000) The centrality of experience in the teachings of early Buddhism. Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre. ISBN 9780906165348

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Abstract

For Indian religions, including Buddhism which is the specific subject of my paper, experience is a sine qua non. What I would like to do in this paper is to suggest that what makes the early Buddhist teachings different from those of other Indian religions is not that they are saying that it is a differently structured truth about Reality that one should be aiming to experience, but that what they are saying is that one should be aiming to know the truth about the reality of experience itself. In my view, the doctrine of anatta (not self) in early Buddhism, can act – and indeed has acted – as a red herring if it is taken as the central teaching of Buddhism and interpreted in the way in which it usually is. What I would like to suggest is, first, that one should understand it slightly differently, and accord it a different emphasis; and, second, that the truly central point about what the Buddha taught is that one should understand experience qua experience.

Item Type:	Book
Additional Information:	Series: RERC Second Series Occasional Papers;24.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Experience (Religion)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BL Religion
Divisions:	Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre > Second Series of Occasional Papers
Depositing User:	John Dalling
Date Deposited:	05 Nov 2014 16:13
Last Modified:	27 Aug 2024 13:50
URI:	https://repository.uwtsd.ac.uk/id/eprint/419

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