The course focuses on the following aspects: the extent of the spread of Buddhism during the time of the Buddha and its impact on the contemporary society, Buddhist Councils and their importance in the history of Buddhism, formation of the Buddhist canonical literatures and its oral transmission by the bhānakas, development in Buddhist monasticism, emergence of Buddhist sects, growth of Buddhist rituals and concessions to popular religious needs, Aśoka and his contribution to the propagation of Buddhism in India and beyond.

The course will begin with a clarification of sarvastitva, the theory of tritemporal existence and its centrality to the Sarvāstivāda version of the dharma-theory. The main themes of discussion will include the category of atta-viprayukta-samskāra, theory of causes and conditions, momentariness and the causality of cognition, karma theory of avijñapti, and the unconditioned dharmas.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the psychological concepts and categories of Early Buddhism came to be interpreted in the schools of Abhidharma. The main topics will include definition and classification of consciousness, mind-matter relationship, theories of cognition and subliminal consciousness, jhanic experience and higher reaches of mind. The course will conclude with the Sautrāntikas' critique of Abhidharma categories and their contribution to Buddhist psychological analysis.

The focus of the course is on a specific study of the Abhidhamma literature of the Pāli canon incorporating a detailed study of the evolution of the seven books of the Abhidhamma Pitaka paying special attention to the method of classification and literary styles.

The course will begin with a broad content-analysis of the five Nikāyas and the four Chinese Āgamas.

The study will be based on: the origin and development of the Jātaka literature and its role in the popularization of Buddhist values; the importance of the Jātakas as Buddhist works of literature; aspects of social, economic, political and moral philosophy reflected in the Jātaka literature.

This course is a study of the origin and development of the Pāli commentaries and sub-commentaries paying especial attention to new methods of exegesis, literary style and language. An examination of the causes and objectives that led to the compilation of the Pāli commentaries and a study of the commentaries in relation to early Buddhist doctrines are expected.

A critical study of the Pāli literature paying attention to their importance as sources for the reconstruction of Buddhist History will be expected under this study.

The prime focus of the course will be on the dhamma-theory, the cornerstone of the Abhidhamma philosophy. The course will introduce students to the teachings of the Abhidhamma on levels of reality and degrees of truth, analysis of mind and matter, theory of ognition, instantaneous being, and conditional relations. The course will be concluded with-an introduction to the expository methodology of the Abhidhamma.

An inquiry into the specific Mahāyāna doctrines which were developed within the Abhidharma tradition but remained controversial among early Schools of Buddhism. The course will focus on the karma-theories of avijñapti, avipranāśa and bīja, prajñapti-paramātha dichotomy, theories of antarābhava, spiritual status of the Arahant, the lokottaravāda tradition of Buddhology, and the Sautrāntika critique of the Abhidharma categories.