Pain is a natural part of life and all of us. Ordinary people are inflicted with physical or mental pain. In this paper, firstly we will analyse the concept of physical and mental pain according to the Pali Nikāyas. Next we will discuss the causes of physical and mental pain, and investigate the unwholesome roots: greed (lobha), hatred (dosa) and delusion (moha), and their negative roles in causing physical and mental pain. Then we will highlight the Buddhist path to overcoming physical and mental pain. Finally we will discuss mindfulness and the therapeutic relationship. Mindfulness, as it is understood and applied in Buddhism, is a richer theory than thus far understood and applied in Western psychotherapy. Within Buddhism the development of mindfulness must be understood to be interrelated with the maturity of morality (sīla), concentration (samādhi) and wisdom (paññā).

The causes of suffering are a central topic in Buddhism as well as in Ayurveda. The Pāli Canon and other early Buddhist texts like the Milindapañha mention eight specific causes resulting in disease or suffering at several places. In contrast, early Ayurveda, as presented in the Carakasaṃhitā, knows a threefold causal complex of diseases or suffering in general. In this study, I aim to present and disentangle the confusing information in the Carakasaṃhitā and isolate two consistent models of causes of suffering. Based on this analysis it is possible to better understand the interrelation of these models as well as their position in contrast to the causes enumerated in the early Buddhist texts. * This article is based on a talk presented at the Indology Graduate Research Symposium (iigrs.wordpress.com) 2019 in Oxford. Later adaptions were made within the frame of a research project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF (Epidemics and Crisis Management in Pre-modern South Asia [10.55776/P35301]; epidemics.univie.ac.at). I also need to thank Dominik A. Haas, Philipp A. Maas and Valters Negribs who read the paper and made various valuable suggestions for improvement. 1 Regarding the various terms denoting disease and suffering in Early Buddhism, cf. Divino 2023, 29-34. Causes of Suffering 2/24 Vitus Angermeier Bile and phlegm and wind, their confluence, and the seasons, 2 adverse [surroundings or activities], 3 injury (opakkamika) 4 with ripening of karma as the eighth. 5

This essay analyzes the provocative image of the bodhisattva, the saint of the Indian Mahayana Buddhist tradition, descending into the hell realms to work for the benefit of its denizens. Inspired in part by recent attempts to naturalize Buddhist ethics, I argue that taking this 'mythological' image seriously, as expressing philosophical insights, helps us better understand the shape of Mahayana value theory. In particular, it expresses a controversial philosophical thesis: the claim that no amount of physical pain can disrupt the flourishing of a fully virtuous person. I reconstruct two related elements of early Buddhist psychology that help us understand this Mahayana position: the distinction between hedonic sensation (vedanā) and virtuous or nonvirtous mental states (kuśala/akuśala-dharma); and the claim that humans are massively deluded as to what constitutes well-being. Doing so also lets me emphasize the continuity between early Buddhist and Mahayana traditions in their views on well-being and flourishing. Julia Annas has shown that taking seriously Stoic and Epicurean claims that the sage is happy even while being tortured on the rack helps articulate the structure of their ethics, and in particular the relationship between virtue (arête) and happiness (eudaimonia). 1 In this essay, I apply this strategy to Mahayana Buddhist moral philosophy by taking seriously the image of the bodhisattva joyfully diving into the hell realms. A powerful

Liberation is a fundamental subject in South Asian doctrinal and philosophical reflection. This book is a study of the discussion of liberation from suffering presented by Dharmakīrti, one of the most influential Indian philosophers. It includes an edition and translation of the section on the cessation of suffering according to Manorathanandin, the last commentator on Dharmakīrti’s Pramāṇavārttika in the Sanskrit cosmopolis. The edition is based on the manuscript used by Sāṅkṛtyāyana and other sources. Methodological issues related to editing ancient Sanskrit texts are examined, while expanding on the activity of ancient pandits and modern editors.

In this paper an analysis is attempted of the triple suffering (duḥkha-duḥkhatā, saṁskāra-duḥkhatā, vipariṇāma-duḥkhatā) as it appears in the Mahāvyutpatti and in earlier sources. Comparing it to some non-buddhistic triads (e.g. in the Yoga-sūtra) and similar concepts in the Pāli Canon and its commentaries, a connection is suggested to the trilakṣaṇa (duḥkha, anitya, anātman) and to the frequent series old age – disease – death. It appears that the original understanding of saṁskāra-duḥkhatā was probably not the suffering related to subliminal impressions but rather the suffering inherent in anything of a composite nature.