Abstract
The basic starting point of this presentation will be the article "What is Buddhist nirvana according to the Pali Canon", published by Vincenc Lesný in Ruch filosofický in 1921, where he tried to introduce the Buddhist concept of nibbánam (or nirvana) to the philosophical audience in a somewhat referential way, where the distinction between "nibbánam during life" and "nibbánam after death" will be particularly important. In my presentation, I intend to take full advantage of the fact that Lesny chose to publish his text in this journal, and to compare his conception of nirvana (which will be expanded to include his later interpretations) with the positions developed by other contributors to this periodical, who attempted very novel and original thinking (which was often not met with approval by some members of the older philosophical generation).
The central comparative material, in addition to mentioning others, will be Vladimír Hoppe's conception of non-consciousness, as elaborated primarily in his 1925 essay "Přirozené a duchovní základy světa a života", as well as his understanding of Buddhism (in relation to his specific system of thought, so-called transcendental idealism), which will prove to be characteristic of many other thinkers in this circle and their reception of these "Eastern teachings."