In Love with Wisdom (Ancient Greek and Early Buddhist Philosophies)

Bridging early Buddhist thought and ancient Greek philosophy, In Love with Wisdom offers a fresh glimpse into the ethics and metaphysics of the time, revealing how figures like Heraclitus and Socrates were grappling with the same ideas as the early Buddhists.

“Is it not also clear that by knowing themselves people experience the most good things, and by being deceived about themselves they suffer the most evils?” This question, posed by Socrates, cuts to the heart of both ancient Greek philosophy and early Buddhism. What does it mean to know oneself, and is there even a self to know? In Love with Wisdom invites readers into a cross-cultural dialogue between these two classical traditions, tied together by their shared commitment to inquiry and ethical living.

In this unique collaboration, classicist Alexandra Pappas and venerable scholar-monk Bhikkhu Analayo open a new contemplative path by exploring how timeless Buddhist teachings echo—often strikingly—in the earliest voices of Western philosophy. Beginning with the thoughts of Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, and Socrates, Alexandra Pappas examines their ideas on impermanence, selfhood, the four elements, ethical living, and rebirth. Bhikkhu Analayo then takes up these same ideas through the lens of early Buddhism, revealing parallels and illuminating contrasts in unexpected places. Rather than focusing on historical influence or cross-cultural borrowing, the authors uncover shared human concerns and distinctive philosophical responses, enriching our understanding of early Buddhist thought by seeing it alongside other ancient explorations in a shared love of wisdom.

Accessible to general readers and engaging for students of philosophy, classics, and Buddhism, In Love with Wisdom is a dialogue across time and tradition that sheds new light on familiar teachings and opens space for fresh reflection. It invites anyone curious about these early wisdom traditions to consider how practicing these ancient teachings can be informed—and enriched—by looking to both Eastern and Western philosophies.

Contents
I
Introduction
People and Places
Sources and Reception
Impermanence: Heraclitus
Introduction
The River Fragments
Fire and Other Expressions of Change
Epistemology and the Senses
Summary
Being and Not Being: Parmenides
Introduction
The Proem
The Way of Truth
The Opinions of Mortals
Summary
The Four Elements and Ethical Purification: Empedocles
Introduction
The Four Elements and Love and Strife
The Senses
Ethics and Purification
Summary
Examining Life, Approaching Death: Socrates
Introduction
Socrates as Teacher
Socrates on Ethics, Knowledge, and Truth
Socrates’s Trial and Death
Summary

II
Introduction
The Teachings of the Buddha
The Ancient Setting
The Buddha in Debate
An Early Encounter between Greeks and Indians
Impermanence: Early Buddhism
The Early Buddhist Conception of Impermanence
A Radicalization of Impermanence
From Impermanence to Dukkha
The Significance of Dukkha
Not-self
The Chariot Simile
Summary
Being and Not Being: Early Buddhism
Beyond Being and Non-being
Dependent Arising
The Buddha’s Investigation of Dependent Arising
Three Links Preceding Birth
Three Links Leading up to Craving
Consciousness and Name-and-Form
The Scope of the Pre-Awakening Investigation
Summary
The Four Elements and Ethical Purification: Early Buddhism
The Four Elements
The Buddha’s Recollection of Past Lives
The Divine Eye
The Third Higher Knowledge
Liberation
Summary
Examining Life, Approaching Death: Early Buddhism
The Emergence of Mindfulness
The Four Establishments of Mindfulness
Mindfulness of Breathing
Mindfulness
Mindfulness as One’s Refuge
Mindfully Letting Go of Life
Mindfully Passing Away
Summary
Conclusion
Abbreviations
Reference