Dhivan Thomas Jones
Biographic Data
| ID | 707061 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Dhivan Thomas Jones |
| GIVEN NAMES | Dhivan Thomas |
| FAMILY NAME | Jones |
| SIGNATURE | JONES D T |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Chester |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8626-3765 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 8 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 13 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1989 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
The Analysis of Dependent Arising
This article compares eight versions of a discourse on the analysis (vibhaṅga) of the 12 nidānas or causal factors of dependent arising, preserved in Pali, Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese. The discourses fall into two groups, possibly representing two traditions of transmission. The analyses of the nidānas in each group show some differences in detail. The analyses do not explicitly involve the teaching of rebirth, implying that the early Buddhist…
Candrakīrti on the Use and Misuse of the Chariot Argument
The publication in 2015 (ed. Li) of Chap. 6 of the rediscovered Sanskrit text of Candrakīrti’s Madhyamakāvatāra (MA) allows us to witness more directly Candrakīrti’s careful and deliberate critique of the ‘chariot argument’ for the merely conventional existence of the self in Indian Abhidharmic thought. I argue that in MA 6.140–141, Candrakīrti alludes to the use of the chariot argument in the Milindapañha as negating only the view of a permanent…
The Tree, the Snake and the Goddess
Some scholars have argued that early Buddhism offers little theoretical support for an environmental ethics because it regards nature as having no intrinsic value, since it is impermanent and unsatisfactory. I disagree, and argue that the mythic context of the Buddha’s life-story shows the Buddha in an intimate relationship with nature, and gaining Awakening while dependent on it. The Bodhi tree is not just a sacred tree but a symbol of the place…
Going Off the Map
The early Buddhist exegetical text, the Nettippakarana, apparently uniquely, describes the stages of the path as ‘transcendental dependent arising’ (lokuttara paticca-samuppada), in contrast with the twelve nidanas, called ‘worldly dependent arising’ (lokiya paticca-samuppada). A close reading of the Nettippakarana in relation to another, related, exegetical text, the Petakopadesa, reveals that the latter interprets the same stages of the path in…
Buddhist Spiritual Practices
Buddhist Spiritual Practices: Thinking With Pierre Hadot on Buddhism, Philosophy, and the Path. Edited by David V. Fiordalis. Mangalam Press, 2018. xi + 333 pp. Pb. $35. ISBN-13: 978-0-89800-117-4
Going off the Map
The early Buddhist exegetical text, the Nettippakara?a, apparently uniquely, describes the stages of the path as ‘transcendental dependent arising’ (lokuttara pa?icca-samupp?da), in contrast with the twelve nid?nas, called ‘worldly dependent arising’ (lokiya pa?icca-samupp?da). A close reading of the Nettippakara?ain relation to another, related, exegetical text, the Pe?akopadesa, reveals that the latter interprets the same stages of the path in …
Like the Rhinoceros, or Like Its Horn? The Problem of Khaggavis??a Revisited
The P?li expression khaggavis??akappo may either mean ‘like the rhinoceros’ or ‘like the horn of the rhinoceros’. It occurs in the refrain eko care khaggavis??akappo at the end of each stanza of the Khaggavis??a-sutta and its parallels, and the refrain has been translated by some as ‘one should wander alone like the rhinoceros’ but by some, including K. R. Norman, as ‘one should wander alone like the horn of the rhinoceros’. K. R. Norman has howe…
The Middle East
Open Borders and Closing Threats
Where do we draw the line on the adage that fences make good The iconic Robert Frost verse is much quoted, but do longer, higher, barbed-wire, electrified, security-patrolled, and access-controlled fences make for still better neighbours? This question embodies the essence of current continuing tensions along the Canadian-US borders. The traditional longest undefended cliche is quickly becoming a 20thcentury artefact with levels of security and p…
US-Canada Security
Perhaps the most surprising element upon reviewing two books addressing US-Canada security from the 1960s - The Long Polar Watch by Melvin Conant and Canada's Changing Defense Policy 1957-1963 by Jon B. McLin - is how thoroughly they have disappeared.1Prior to undertaking this analysis, I spent 50 years as a student of political science and international relations, a practicing US diplomat specializing in politicomdlitary affairs, and a researche…
New light on the twelve Nidānas
Pa icca samuppāda (dependent arising) is the central philosophical principle of Buddhism, and is most commonly exemplified in the suttas in terms of the twelve nidānas. The ubiquitous interpretation of the twelve nidānas of pa icca samuppāda as taking place over three lives, a religious doctrine explaining the rebirth process, is a commentarial development, not found in the suttas. Recent Theravādin exegetes Bhikkhu Buddhadāsa and Ñāavīra Thera a…
Why Did Brahm? Ask the Buddha to Teach
The episode of Brahm?’s request to the Buddha to teach has been regarded as problematic from early times, since it suggests that the Buddha was initially lacking in compassion. Comparison of versions of the story shows it to be possibly pre-A?okan in origin. A close reading of themes in the episode in relation to other incidents in the Buddha’s life described in the Pali canon show that it need not be taken as portraying an actual experience of t…
Asylum to Anarchy
Following the classic work on asylums by Erving Goffman, this is a study of democratic tyranny, a tyranny of the therapeutic, in which naked power replaced the ideals of a therapeutic community designed to eliminate hierarchy and bureaucracy. It is a detailed study of a London day hospital, a model community for psychoanalytic treatment in a democratic setting which went badly wrong in its attempt to capture the momentum of de-institutionalizatio…
Asylum to Anarchy
Following the classic work on asylums by Erving Goffman, this is a study of democratic tyranny, a tyranny of the therapeutic, in which naked power replaced the ideals of a therapeutic community designed to eliminate hierarchy and bureaucracy. It is a detailed study of a London day hospital, a model community for psychoanalytic treatment in a democratic setting which went badly wrong in its attempt to capture the momentum of de-institutionalizatio…
US-Canada Security
Perhaps the most surprising element upon reviewing two books addressing US-Canada security from the 1960s - The Long Polar Watch by Melvin Conant and Canada's Changing Defense Policy 1957-1963 by Jon B. McLin - is how thoroughly they have disappeared.1Prior to undertaking this analysis, I spent 50 years as a student of political science and international relations, a practicing US diplomat specializing in politicomdlitary affairs, and a researche…
Why Did Brahm? Ask the Buddha to Teach
The episode of Brahm?’s request to the Buddha to teach has been regarded as problematic from early times, since it suggests that the Buddha was initially lacking in compassion. Comparison of versions of the story shows it to be possibly pre-A?okan in origin. A close reading of themes in the episode in relation to other incidents in the Buddha’s life described in the Pali canon show that it need not be taken as portraying an actual experience of t…
Asylum to Anarchy
Following the classic work on asylums by Erving Goffman, this is a study of democratic tyranny, a tyranny of the therapeutic, in which naked power replaced the ideals of a therapeutic community designed to eliminate hierarchy and bureaucracy. It is a detailed study of a London day hospital, a model community for psychoanalytic treatment in a democratic setting which went badly wrong in its attempt to capture the momentum of de-institutionalizatio…
New light on the twelve Nidānas
Pa icca samuppāda (dependent arising) is the central philosophical principle of Buddhism, and is most commonly exemplified in the suttas in terms of the twelve nidānas. The ubiquitous interpretation of the twelve nidānas of pa icca samuppāda as taking place over three lives, a religious doctrine explaining the rebirth process, is a commentarial development, not found in the suttas. Recent Theravādin exegetes Bhikkhu Buddhadāsa and Ñāavīra Thera a…
Why Did Brahm? Ask the Buddha to Teach
The episode of Brahm?’s request to the Buddha to teach has been regarded as problematic from early times, since it suggests that the Buddha was initially lacking in compassion. Comparison of versions of the story shows it to be possibly pre-A?okan in origin. A close reading of themes in the episode in relation to other incidents in the Buddha’s life described in the Pali canon show that it need not be taken as portraying an actual experience of t…
US-Canada Security
Perhaps the most surprising element upon reviewing two books addressing US-Canada security from the 1960s - The Long Polar Watch by Melvin Conant and Canada's Changing Defense Policy 1957-1963 by Jon B. McLin - is how thoroughly they have disappeared.1Prior to undertaking this analysis, I spent 50 years as a student of political science and international relations, a practicing US diplomat specializing in politicomdlitary affairs, and a researche…
Open Borders and Closing Threats
Where do we draw the line on the adage that fences make good The iconic Robert Frost verse is much quoted, but do longer, higher, barbed-wire, electrified, security-patrolled, and access-controlled fences make for still better neighbours? This question embodies the essence of current continuing tensions along the Canadian-US borders. The traditional longest undefended cliche is quickly becoming a 20thcentury artefact with levels of security and p…
The Middle East
Like the Rhinoceros, or Like Its Horn? The Problem of Khaggavis??a Revisited
The P?li expression khaggavis??akappo may either mean ‘like the rhinoceros’ or ‘like the horn of the rhinoceros’. It occurs in the refrain eko care khaggavis??akappo at the end of each stanza of the Khaggavis??a-sutta and its parallels, and the refrain has been translated by some as ‘one should wander alone like the rhinoceros’ but by some, including K. R. Norman, as ‘one should wander alone like the horn of the rhinoceros’. K. R. Norman has howe…
Going Off the Map
The early Buddhist exegetical text, the Nettippakarana, apparently uniquely, describes the stages of the path as ‘transcendental dependent arising’ (lokuttara paticca-samuppada), in contrast with the twelve nidanas, called ‘worldly dependent arising’ (lokiya paticca-samuppada). A close reading of the Nettippakarana in relation to another, related, exegetical text, the Petakopadesa, reveals that the latter interprets the same stages of the path in…
Buddhist Spiritual Practices
Buddhist Spiritual Practices: Thinking With Pierre Hadot on Buddhism, Philosophy, and the Path. Edited by David V. Fiordalis. Mangalam Press, 2018. xi + 333 pp. Pb. $35. ISBN-13: 978-0-89800-117-4
Going off the Map
The early Buddhist exegetical text, the Nettippakara?a, apparently uniquely, describes the stages of the path as ‘transcendental dependent arising’ (lokuttara pa?icca-samupp?da), in contrast with the twelve nid?nas, called ‘worldly dependent arising’ (lokiya pa?icca-samupp?da). A close reading of the Nettippakara?ain relation to another, related, exegetical text, the Pe?akopadesa, reveals that the latter interprets the same stages of the path in …
The Tree, the Snake and the Goddess
Some scholars have argued that early Buddhism offers little theoretical support for an environmental ethics because it regards nature as having no intrinsic value, since it is impermanent and unsatisfactory. I disagree, and argue that the mythic context of the Buddha’s life-story shows the Buddha in an intimate relationship with nature, and gaining Awakening while dependent on it. The Bodhi tree is not just a sacred tree but a symbol of the place…
Candrakīrti on the Use and Misuse of the Chariot Argument
The publication in 2015 (ed. Li) of Chap. 6 of the rediscovered Sanskrit text of Candrakīrti’s Madhyamakāvatāra (MA) allows us to witness more directly Candrakīrti’s careful and deliberate critique of the ‘chariot argument’ for the merely conventional existence of the self in Indian Abhidharmic thought. I argue that in MA 6.140–141, Candrakīrti alludes to the use of the chariot argument in the Milindapañha as negating only the view of a permanent…
The Analysis of Dependent Arising
This article compares eight versions of a discourse on the analysis (vibhaṅga) of the 12 nidānas or causal factors of dependent arising, preserved in Pali, Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese. The discourses fall into two groups, possibly representing two traditions of transmission. The analyses of the nidānas in each group show some differences in detail. The analyses do not explicitly involve the teaching of rebirth, implying that the early Buddhist…
Philosophy (9 works) · Indian and Buddhist Studies (8 works) · Buddhism (7 works) · Linguistics (6 works) · Political science (6 works) · Theology (6 works) · Art (5 works) · Chinese history and philosophy (5 works) · Computer Science (5 works) · Epistemology (5 works)