Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

, conceptual proliferation (

Pāli Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhi ...

: ;

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

: ; zh, s=戏论, t=戲論, p=xìlùn; ja, 戯論) or, alternatively, mental proliferation or conceptual elaboration, refers to conceptualization of the world through language and concepts which can then be a cause for suffering to arise. The translation of ''papañca'' as conceptual proliferation was first made by

Katukurunde Nyanananda Thera Most Ven. Kaṭukurunde Ñāṇananda Maha Thera (10 July 1940 – 22 February 2018) (sometimes spelled Nyanananda or Nanananda in English, sometimes called Gnanananda in Sinhala, Sinhalese: අති පූජ්‍ය කටුකුර� ...

in his research monograph ''Concept and Reality''. The term is mentioned in a variety of ''

suttas Buddhist texts are those religious texts which belong to the Buddhist tradition. The earliest Buddhist texts were not committed to writing until some centuries after the death of Gautama Buddha. The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts a ...

'' in the

Pali canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During t ...

, such as the Madhupindika Sutta (MN 18), and is mentioned in Mahayana Buddhism as well. When referencing the concepts derived from this process, such concepts are referred to in Pali as ''papañca-saññā-sankhā''. ''Nippapañca'' is the diametrical opposition of ''papañca''. Theravada Buddhist monk Chandima Gangodawila writes:

Papañca is one of the most helpful Theravāda Buddhist teachings used to understand how our thoughts become impure and the most compelling account of this subject is the Madhupiṇḍika Sutta. Since many writers don't utilize papañca when alluding to defilements, many readers discover the setting of mental purification hard to understand. If we seriously want to learn how to keep our mental purification unadulterated from defilements, we should figure out how the mental purification can be tainted through papañca.

In addition, Chandima examines the association of papañca to kilesa (defilements), upakkilesa (mental impurities), saññā (perceptions) and abhiññā (comprehensions) to find out whether or not the essential components of mental purification begin from managing papañca, or the other dhamma concepts, that can be bold for anyone who struggles to subsume defilements in modern-day life.Gangodawila 2020

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External links

Exploring the Honeyball Sutta, An Alternative Nidana Chaina more intelligible audio version

Getting Away From Prapanca, The Practical Applications of the Honeyball Suttaa more intelligible audio version

Dharma talk on papañca
by Christina Feldman Buddhist philosophical concepts {{Buddhism-stub

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External links