This series covers events from 09/15/1977 - 09/29/1977

This three-part series of classes explores the fundamental Buddhist rejection of substantial thinking in favor of pure functional processes. Using primary sources including Murti's The Central Philosophy of Buddhism, Stcherbatsky's Buddhist Logic, and Guenther's "The Concept of Mind in Buddhist Tantrism," the classes examine how Buddhist philosophy differs from Samkhya and Vedanta by denying underlying substantial entities like ego or mind-substance. The series progresses from basic metaphysical distinctions through detailed epistemological analysis of key Buddhist concepts: point-instants as ultimate reality, the construction of empirical time and space through imagination, and how dualistic experience emerges from pure sensation through feeling and expectation. Students explore the three causes of mental change (appearance, samskaras, and symbolic expressiveness) and examine mind as a functional rather than a substantial unity. Through rigorous textual analysis and analogical reasoning, Damiani demonstrates how Buddhist philosophy systematically undermines conventional assumptions about selfhood while offering connections to Western philosophical traditions, particularly Plato and modern science.

Classes and documents available in this series