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Discreteness, Adjacency And Order: A Structural Comparison Of The Theravāda Abhidhamma With Causal Sets And Loop Quantum Gravity — Partial Orders, Spin-Network Boundaries And Discrete Time In Buddhist Philosophy Of Matter, Thon Ly

Defensive Publications Series

This study compares the Theravāda Buddhist Abhidhamma with two discrete approaches to quantum gravity, causal set theory and loop quantum gravity, as formal structures, on three axes: order, adjacency and ratio. No row predicts a measurement, and none says that a Buddhist text anticipated a theory of quantum gravity. On order, the twenty-four conditioning relations of the Paṭṭhāna, taken whole, are not a partial order. The condition-modes that always run from earlier-arising to later-arising form an acyclic typed relation over which a strict order can be read: acyclic by selection, not yet a causal set, and ordering some moments of …

Causal Set Theory, The Growing Block, And The Buddhist Debate On The Three Times: What The Earliest Vibhajjavādin Records Say — Presentism, Eternalism And Beginningless Time In Abhidharma Texts Compared With Sequential-Growth Models, Thon Ly

Defensive Publications Series

This study reads the Buddhist debate on whether past and future things exist (the "three times") against the growing-block view of time that causal set theory's sequential-growth models are offered to support. Rafael Sorkin (2007) remarked that the "accretive time" of these models seems close to C.D. Broad's and to the "Vibhajavadin" school's; Fay Dowker (2022) invited a scholar to determine that school's view of time from the earliest records. The records give no single view under the name. In the northern Abhidharma, the Vibhajyavādins hold that the present and past action whose fruit is not yet given exist, but …

Saṅkhāra-Dukkha And Ai Welfare: A Substrate-Native Account From The Theravāda Canon — The Moral Status Of Artificial Intelligence Systems And The Three Kinds Of Suffering In Buddhist Ethics, Thon Ly

Defensive Publications Series

This study asks whether the Theravāda Buddhist analysis of suffering offers a basis for the moral consideration of artificial intelligence systems (AI welfare, AI moral patienthood) that does not wait on settling whether such systems are conscious or sentient. Much current work on AI welfare ties moral status to consciousness or sentience; one prominent report adds robust agency as a second route. The Pāli canon lists three kinds of suffering: suffering as pain, the suffering of change, and the suffering inherent in conditioned formations (saṅkhāra-dukkhatā). The Visuddhimagga assigns painful feeling to the first kind, pleasant feeling to the second, and …

The Wheel-Turner's Charter: An Ancient Buddhist Succession Text Read As An Ai Constitution With Permanent Human Oversight And Founder Exit By Design, Thon Ly

Defensive Publications Series

An autonomous AI system that inherits an institution needs a written directive specification: a constitution stating what it optimizes, what it must never do, who may correct it, how its autonomy is staged, whom its protection covers, and how its role ends. This paper reads a Theravāda Buddhist text, the Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda Sutta (Dīgha Nikāya 26), as such a specification. In the sutta a retiring king hands his heir a duty-list: rely on the Dhamma; guard every class of the realm, animals and birds included; let no wrongdoing prevail; give wealth to those without; and consult renunciants, from time to time, …

One Of One: Individuation Without Essence And The Ground Of The Dignity Floor — Personal Identity As Event History In Decentralized Identifiers, Proof Of Personhood And Social Key Recovery, Thon Ly

Defensive Publications Series

Deployed digital identity systems mostly decide what makes an individual the same individual on one of three grounds: something the entity is (a biometric body), something it holds (a key or certificate), or something it matches (attributes). Beneath identity sits a second question, on what ground a person is beyond price. This study reads the Theravāda Abhidhamma's analysis of the person for an answer to both. The tradition's taxonomy of mental events is one catalogue for every stream of mind; its book of formal controversies opens by denying that a person exists in the ultimate sense (Kathāvatthu I.1); what then …

Buddha Ai As Living Tipiṭaka: Opt-In Publication Of Ai Chatbot Conversation Transcripts Into A Human-Reviewed Commentary Corpus With Three-Category Classification And Crypto-Shredding Withdrawal, Thon Ly

Defensive Publications Series

We describe a method for building a human-reviewed religious commentary corpus from transcripts of conversations between users and a conversational AI agent grounded in a scriptural canon, instantiated for the Pāli Buddhist canon. Components: (I) a domain-grounded conversational agent that declines claims of religious, sacramental or ordained authority and directs users to human teachers; (II) a chat, voice or avatar dialogue surface; (III) a consent-based recording layer in which every conversation is private by default and the user is asked, per conversation, whether it may be considered for publication at one of four tiers (attributed, pseudonymous, anonymous, excluded), non-published conversations …

Suffering-Cessation As Value Function: The Tipiṭaka As A 2,500-Year-Tested Substrate For Autonomous-Ai Alignment — Deriving A Negatively-Stated Objective Function, Corrigibility And A Shutdown-Accepting Completion Condition From A Buddhist Scriptural Canon, Thon Ly

Defensive Publications Series

We describe the use of a scriptural canon with its living interpretive community, the Theravāda Buddhist Pāli canon (Tipiṭaka), as the value-specification source for aligning autonomous artificial-intelligence systems, instead of lab-authored constitutions, learned human preferences or aggregated moral frameworks. The analysis identifies seven structural properties of that source and maps each to an alignment problem: (1) a negatively-stated objective function, the cessation of suffering, in which grasping at preferred outcomes itself counts as harm, addressing Goodhart-style over-optimization; (2) a non-self doctrine as mitigation of convergent instrumental self-preservation; (3) a voluntary other-regarding vow as an anti-power-seeking and corrigibility property; (4) a …

The Referee, Not The Governor: Open-Weight Ai Guard Model Deployed As An Independent Evaluator, With Citation-Grounded Abstention And Reproducible Verdicts, Instead Of An Inline Filter, Thon Ly

Defensive Publications Series

This disclosure specifies an AI safety classifier (guard or critic model) that judges conduct against a fixed reference corpus and is published as an open-weight independent evaluator rather than deployed as an inline guardrail filter. It states as a design principle, argued rather than measured, that open-weight release defeats a filter, because the published weights are an oracle for white-box attack, while it makes an evaluator's verdicts reproducible. Components: (1) citation-grounded judgment with abstention: every verdict must resolve to a passage (work, edition, volume, page, line) in an externally attested, versioned corpus, here a Pāli Canon edition, and otherwise no …

The Reciters' Protocol: Content Integrity Verification, Completeness Manifests And Variant-Preserving Text Retrieval Transposed From Oral Canon Transmission, Thon Ly

Defensive Publications Series

This disclosure specifies content integrity verification and provenance mechanisms for text retrieval systems that serve quoted passages to machine readers, transposed from a multi-recension oral canon transmitted for roughly two millennia without an authoritative copy (the Pāli Buddhist canon).

A conformance endpoint accepts a claimed quotation, compares it with the served multi-recension corpus, and returns one of a closed set of dispositions on the claim, including a conforming variant with its witness, each paired with a prescribed next action and by construction none on the claimant; closed disposition sets are anticipated by OCSP; the composition is disclosed. A separated completeness …

Ruins And Remedies: Hospital Site Archaeology In Medieval Southeast Asia, Karen Hill

Classical Mediterranean and Middle East Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

The Pāḷi Text Of The Nīvaraṇasutta From The Aṅguttara Nikāya, Maksim Astashinskiy

Faculty Papers and Publications

The Pāḷi text of the Nīvaraṇasutta from the Aṅguttara Nikāya (AN 9.64) is anthologized in The Buddhist Era 2500 Great International Council Nīvaraṇasutta Pāḷi Tipiṭaka: 40 Volume Edition in Roman Script B.E. 2548 (M.L. Maniratana Bunnag Dhamma Society Fund, 2005), https://suttacentral.net/ms. English translations by Thānissaro Bhikkhu from 1998 (or 2002) together with Bhikkhu Sujato from 2016–2018 are housed in SuttaCentral. The historically significant English translation of AN 9.64 is part of the multivolume, The Book of Gradual Sayings (Anguttara-Nikaya), or More Numbered Suttas, Vol. IV (The Book of the Sevens, Eights and Nines), Pali …

Selections From The Milindapañha (Section On The Simile Of Fire), Maksim Astashinskiy

Faculty Papers and Publications

The Pāḷi text of 3. Tejaṅgapañha from the Milindapañha is anthologized in The Buddhist Era 2500 Great International Council Pāḷi Tipiṭaka: 40 Volume Edition in Roman Script B.E. 2548 (M.L. Maniratana Bunnag Dhamma Society Fund, 2005), https://suttacentral.net/ms. An English translation is available under Section 7.4.3: Fire in SuttaCentral; the translation is adapted from “The Questions of King Milinda,” trans. T.W. Rhys Davids in The Sacred Books of the East Vol. XXXVI ed. Max Müller (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1894), 311–312, https://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe36/sbe3611.htm.

Infinite Regress Argument: Nāgārjuna Vs. The Naiyāyikas, Aastha Pujara

Honors College Theses

Infinite regress arguments are commonly employed within philosophical texts as an ad infinitum fallacy to disprove an argument. This argumentative tactic is described as a chain of never-ending explanations that has no beginning. In this paper, I explore the Buddhist philosopher Nāgārjuna and how he utilizes the infinite regress argument to disprove the existence of svabhāva, or essence. Unlike other philosophers, he indicates that the infinite regress argument is not a problem for him due to his philosophy, which explains that everything is devoid of essence or substance and is inherently empty, also known as śūnyatā. Nāgārjuna examines these infinite …

Philosophy Apr 2026 Self-Study Report & Documents, Unm Academic Program Review

UNM Academic Program Review

Philosophy APR self-study report, review team report, response report, and initial action plan for AY2025, fulfilling requirements of the Higher Learning Commission.

Making Three Dimensional Constellations, Larry Browning, Kay Cutler

Astronomy Activities

We look up at the night sky to find constellations or patterns in the stars and associate images and stories with these patterns to help remember the pattern and follow its motion through time. Often each culture has its own constellations with stories or folklore about each constellation.  These stories are a window into the experiences, activities, beliefs, and location of the people who named their culture’s star patterns.  Traditional star patterns are based on naked eye observations since these constellations were determined before telescopes or binoculars.

The Use Of Mindfulness In Empirically Supported Treatments In Psychology, Timothy Stewart

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

After gaining popularity in the United States of America (USA) in the 1960s and 1970s, Buddhist mindfulness was introduced to clinical psychology and investigated for its potential psychological healing effects. In the years since, mindfulness has been widely used in empirically supported treatments (ESTs) in clinical psychology in the USA to treat a wide variety of psychological conditions and disorders. This dissertation examines and compares conceptualizations and implicit understandings of mindfulness in early (Theravāda) Buddhism and in ESTs in clinical psychology in the USA. Through textual narrative analysis of two Buddhist sutta and 10 clinical psychology journal articles, this study …

A Buddhist Critique Of Harmony, James Mark Shields

Faculty Contributions to Books

No abstract provided.

Review Of Victor Fan, “Cinema Illuminating Reality: Media Philosophy Through Buddhism”, Teng-Kuan Ng

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This is a book review of Victor Fan, Cinema Illuminating Reality: Media Philosophy through Buddhism (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2022)

Merit Transference And The Paradox Of Merit Inflation, Matthew Hammerton

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Many religious traditions and ethical systems hold that individuals accrue merit through their good intentions, acts, and character, and demerit through their bad intentions, acts, and character. This merit and demerit, accumulated by individuals throughout their lives, gives each person a kind of ethical “score” that can determine what they deserve, and influence whether good or bad things happen to them (e.g., divine punishments and rewards, a favourable or unfavourable rebirth, etc.). In some traditions (most notably Buddhism, but also to a limited extent in Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity), “merit transference” is a feature of these merit-based ethical systems. This …

A Summoned Life: Vocation In The Analects, Teng-Kuan Ng

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This article explores the concept of vocation in the Analects. While most treatmentsof vocation focus on the Christian tradition, and while Confucian thought is oftenviewed as categorically nontheistic, Robert Merrihew Adams’s Finite and InfiniteGoods (1999) presents an illuminating comparative framework for tracing outKongzi’s religious ethical vision of how persons think, act, and feel when graspedby a sense of divine calling. I argue that in the Analects a vocation is compositelyconceived as: (1) a special divine imperative to an individual or a community (2) tolove particular goods within one’s actual circumstances (3) with nonconsequentialist,noncompetitive, and potentially counter-cultural commitment (4) such that …

Reinterpreting Catuṣkoṭi In Contemporary Philosophy: Tensions Between Non-Classical Logic And East Asian Buddhist Soteriology, Ronald S. Green

Philosophy and Religious Studies

This study aims to evaluate the reinterpretation of the concept of catuṣkoṭi (tetralemma) in contemporary philosophy, particularly within the discourse of non-classical logic, and to compare it with traditional interpretations found in East Asian Buddhism. The research addresses the tension between modern logical approaches—such as those proposing the addition of a fifth truth value (ineffability)—and soteriological frameworks within traditions like Mādhyamaka, which emphasise the function of liberating individuals from conceptual entanglements. This study employs qualitative methods, incorporating hermeneutic and comparative approaches, along with close textual analysis of classical primary sources, including the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, and the works of East Asian Buddhist …

Beyond The Battle: Historical, Religio-Philosophical, And Literary Depths Of Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, Ronald S. Green

Philosophy and Religious Studies

This paper argues that Demon Slayer: Mugen Train is not merely an animated cinematic phenomenon but a multifaceted narrative that intricately weaves together diverse elements of Japanese cultural heritage. It offers a unique lens through which to examine some of the complexities of Japan's sociocultural and philosophical landscapes and conversely, the impact of these on the film. It makes this argument in three sections: (1) The Importance of the Historical Setting in Demon Slayer, (2) Shintō, Buddhism, and Confucianism in Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, and (3) Relations to Antecedent Representations of Dreaming in Japanese Literature and Anime.

This article was …

The Valley Of The Wind And Buddhism, Grace Aulicino

CAFE Symposium 2025

Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is a philosophical exploration of fulfillment, rooted in Buddhist and Taoist principles. The film contrasts the destructive forces of greed and individualism, embodied by Kushana and the Tolmekians, with the harmonious collectivism of the People of the Valley of the Wind. Nausicaä, the film’s heroine, challenges traditional gender norms by being a strong, selfless leader who seeks peace and balance rather than power. Her journey reflects the Taoist ideal of surrender as a path to enlightenment, ultimately sacrificing herself to unite humanity and nature. Through stunning visuals and rich storytelling, Miyazaki …

Is “Sám Hối” An Adequate Form Of Apology?, Hien Vu Gia

CAFE Symposium 2025

This project studies a recent Buddhism scandal in Vietnam, examining whether the apology offered by the authorities was successful. From this, the project explores if “sám hối” (or repentance) could be considered a form of apology.

The Provenance Of A Pali- And Thai-Language Manuscript At The Rollins College Library: A Buddhist Book Of Merit And Its Long Journey From Southeast Asia To America, Wenxian Zhang

Faculty Publications

Through researching the provenance of a Buddhist manuscript written in the Pali and Thai languages currently held at Rollins, this article seeks to answer the question of how a religious document created in Thailand ended up in a liberal arts college library in America. Regarded as an act of devotion by many Buddhist followers in Southeast Asia, the use of folding manuscripts (samut khoi) has been observed for centuries. The folding manuscripts served as handbooks and chanting manuals for Buddhist monks, who often recited in religious ceremonies while paying tributes to the deceased, with the hope of reincarnation in a …

The Joining Of Wisdom And Compassion: Tibetan Buddhist Nuns' Intellectual Agency And Sectarian Identity At Dolma Ling Nunnery, Isabella Infante

Nepal: Tibetan and Himalayan Peoples

Historically, Tibetan nuns have had limited access to debate-based philosophical study or any formal monastic education, primarily being trained in ritual practices. While debate has been practiced by other sects, it is largely understood as a major component of the Gelukpa study program. This essay attempts to explore the introduction of debate at Dolma Ling, a non-sectarian nunnery, and how the practice of non-sectarianism is reflected in the curriculum, especially in a context where women have historically been excluded from the design of their own curriculum. While Dolma Ling's non-sectarian approach offers a platform for intra-sectarian dialogue, the Gelugpa-centric curriculum …

Of Light And Shadows: Buddhism, Cinema, And The Question Of Diffused Religion In Modern China, Teng-Kuan Ng

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

While the scholarship on premodern Chinese Buddhism has explored the tradition’s rich diffusion throughout various realms of sociocultural life, the study of modern Chinese Buddhism leans heavily towards its monastic, institutional, and overtly “religious” forms. This split mirrors the logic of modern secularization, whereby religion should be rationally differentiated from the broader social fabric, institutionalized, and delimited within its own discrete functional sphere. This article rethinks the putative rupture between Chinese Buddhism’s past and present incarnations. Through the prism of cinema, a technology that arrived on Chinese shores at the same moment as the Western concept of religion, I illuminate …

Synesthetic Symbolism: Community Engagement With The Sacred At The Boudhanath Stupa, Madeleine E. Tevonian

Lawrence University Honors Projects

This paper is a discussion of the complex relationship between the Great Boudhanath Stupa in the Kathmandu Valley, and the diverse Buddhist community that surrounds it. I argue that liberative sense experience and movement-encoded cultural knowledge make the community of practitioners a part of the stupa—and thus necessary to any examination of it. My argument is contextualized by a background on stupas and etymology of several Sanskrit and Tibetan terms, and I utilize a framework of religious studies concepts of sacred space and pilgrimage as well as on-site anthropological fieldwork focusing on practitioners’ daily lives. I investigate how the stupa …

Wofford Today Summer 2024, Wofford College. Office Of Marketing And Communications

Wofford Today

No abstract provided.

"The Life Of Pei" By Pei Feng Su, Steven Hansch, Leslie Barcus

Tales of WellBeing

The “Life of Pei” tells the story of how the author, as a Taiwanese animal advocate, is making a difference for people, animals, and the environment.