Cosmos and Karma- A Systematic Investigation of the Encyclopaedia of Abhidharma

Presents a fundamental systematic investigation of the Buddhist post-canonical philosophy as presented in the famous treatise Encyclopaedia of Abhidharma. This treatise is known as a basic source for the study of religious and philosophic views of the Hinayana schools. Vasubandhu, the author of the treatise, was one of the most outstanding thinkers of the ancient and early medieval India. His treatise has been believed to be a model of the ‘universal system of meanings’ that endows the Buddhist religious praxis with sacred and symbolic significance. Application of special structural-hermeneneutic methods worked out by these Russian scholars allows them to analyze the post-canonical buddhist philosophy with exceptional clarity.