Introduction

The study seeks to interpret Buddhist theories of mind in terms intelligible to readers familiar with Western philosophy while avoiding the imposition of alien conceptual categories. He notes that psychological reflection in Buddhism arose largely as a by-product of broader philosophical and soteriological inquiry rather than as an autonomous science. Nevertheless, the Abhidhamma developed an increasingly precise analysis of cognition and mental processes that, in his view, deserves comparison with both Indian and Western theories of perception.

Methodologically, the work moves historically from the Nikāyas to the Pāli Abhidhamma and later scholastic developments. Sarachchandra pays close attention to changes in the meanings of technical terms and repeatedly distinguishes early canonical usage from later commentarial interpretation. This historical-philological approach is particularly important in his discussions of viññāṇa, saññā, phassa, samannāhāra, javana, and bhavaṅga, where later systematic meanings should not automatically be projected backward into the earliest texts.