BUDDHIST CONCEPTUALIZATION OF TIME: FROM THE THEORY OF MOMENTARINESS (KṢAṆIKAVĀDA) TO THE SPACE-TIME CONTINUUM (KĀLACAKRA)
Fìlosofìâ ta upravlìnnâ. February 19, 2026 Олена Калантарова
A systematic historical-philosophical analysis traces the development of the Buddhist concept of time from the early theory of momentariness (kṣanikavāda) in Abhidharma to the Tantric teaching on cyclical and multi-layered temporality (Kālacakra). Static analysis reveals the radicalisation of momentariness in the Hinayana schools (Vaibhashika and Sautrantika) and its deconstruction and phenomenologisation in Madhyamaka and Yogacara. Dynamic analysis identifies four key turning points in Buddhist rationality—idealistic, epistemological, trans-empirical, and post-canonical—that transformed the concept of time and integrated momentariness into the tantric model of cyclical time in the Kalachakra tradition. These findings broaden the methodological basis for dialogue between Buddhism and Western science.