The History of Buddhist Thought c20.58

c20.58

Another attempt to solve the problem of time was the doctrine of momentariness (*kṣaṇikavāda*). It was a remarkable application of the atomic theory to time. Time was reduced to a series of atomic moments, and the only actually existent time was the present moment. Its origin is unknown, but it is late, and we know most about it from the prominence which is given to its refutation in brahmin and Jain works. The *Kathāvatthu* (xxii, 8) in one of its latest sections attributes it to some south Indian schools, and states the doctrine in the form, “ all things are momentary units of consciousness.” This, as well as the atomic theory developed by some schools, belongs rather to the history of Indian logic and natural science than to the history of Buddhism.