Nama-Rupa and Dharma-Rupa

Book excerpt: The conception of nama-rupa, "name-and-form," is that of the complex of worldly reality, i.e., differentiated contingent existence, both individual and cosmic. It pertains to the differentiation of the original infinite unity. The related term dharma-rupa presents the same conception, but expresses the contrast between the original unity and its differentiation.This book is a scholarly study of this conception, showing how it pervades Indian thought from the Hindu Vedas to the Buddhist Suttas. By way of the all-pervasive Yoga tradition it emerges and re-emerges in various forms in the different systems. This book includes material on the idea of"pre-canonical Buddhism" pioneered by Stanislaw Schayer.