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Acknowledgements Although most books are attributed to one single author, various individuals and many factors contribute to the development of any manuscript. As the theory of dependent origination suggests, there is no initial cause (or authorship), but merely a succession of inter-dependent events that are responsible for what comes into being. As an author, I am simply one of these necessary conditions, and I truly wish to express my gratitude to all those who have contributed directly or indirectly to my work. More especially, I wish to thank my parents and my whole family who offered me the emotional and financial support needed to undergo all these years of study. Venerable Jagara and S.N. Goenka also played a crucial role in providing the inspiration needed to pursue my objective. Richard Hayes' humble yet apposite comments proved to be pivotal in the elaboration of my argumentation, and in encouraging me to persevere. I am further indebted to A.K. Warder and Ravindra Panth, both of whom showed an extreme amount of patience in teaching me Pali. My style and rhetoric have also been reviewed by a legion of editors, starting with Diana Allen, Raynald Prevereau, Stephen Jones, Philip Moscovitch and Lisa Kosuta. The writing of this book would not have been possible without the help of many other individuals (and circumstances), for which I am extremely grateful. This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. A grant in aid of publication was also provided by the Comite despublications of Universite du Quebec a Montreal. vn This page intentionally left blank ...

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