Bhikkhu Ñāṇananda’s Concept and Reality: A Reply to Stephen Evans; Bhikkhuni Dhammadinnā

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This article was originally published in BSR 34.2

This article was originally published in BSR 34.2

Abstract

This article offers a critical reply to the assessment of Bhikkhu Kaṭukurunde Ñāṇananda’s Concept and Reality in Early Buddhist Thought (1971) published by Stephen Evans in Buddhist Studies Review 34(1), 2017. The alleged flaws and inconsistencies detected by Evans — both internal to the presentation in Concept and Reality and vis-à-vis the doctrinal evidence in the early Pali discourses — are re-addressed in the light of Bhikkhu Ñāṇananda’s work. In particular, the response aims at clarifying the compass of the categories of ‘concept’ and ‘reality’ in relation to perceptions and notions that arise due to conceptual proliferation according to the exegetical line put forward in Concept and Reality.

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