ABSTRACT
In my first chapter I have said that the Buddha’s teaching evolved in dialogue with other religious teachers of his day, especially brahmins; and I have said that he was not an essentialist, and in contrast to brahmins was interested in how things worked rather than in what they were. In this chapter I want to explore both themes further, and to combine them. Towards the end of the chapter I shall work in a third theme, the Buddha’s advocacy of kindness, and hope thus to weave a three stranded argument.
