Dharmakirti
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Dharmakīrti (fl. c. 600–670 CE;
Dharmakīrti's Pramāṇavārttika, his largest and most important work, was very influential in India and Tibet as a central text on pramana ('valid knowledge instruments') and was widely commented on by various Indian and Tibetan scholars. His texts remain part of studies in the monasteries of Tibetan Buddhism.[6]
History
Little is known for certain about the life of Dharmakirti.
Tibetan hagiographies suggest that Dharmakirti (
However, the accuracy of the Tibetan hagiographies is uncertain, and scholars place him in the 7th century instead. This is because of inconsistencies in different Tibetan and Chinese texts, and because it is around the middle of 7th-century, and thereafter, that Indian texts begin discussing his ideas,[2][11][6] such as the citation of Dharmakirti verses in the works of Adi Shankara.[4] Dharmakīrti is placed by most scholars to have lived between 600 and 660 CE, but a few place him earlier.[5]
Dharmakirti is credited with building upon the work of
The Tibetan tradition considers that Dharmakīrti was ordained as a Buddhist monk at
Philosophy
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Historical context
The Buddhist works such as the
Epistemology
Dharmakīrti's philosophy is based on the need to establish a theory of logical validity and certainty grounded in causality. Following
Dharmakīrti also holds that there were certain extraordinary epistemic warrants, such as the words of the Buddha, who was said to be an authoritative/reliable person (pramāṇapuruṣa) as well as the 'inconceivable' perception of a yogi (yogipratyakṣa). On the role of scriptural authority, Dharmakīrti has a moderate and nuanced position. For Dharmakīrti, scripture (Buddhist or otherwise) is not a genuine and independent means of valid cognition. He held that one should not use scripture to guide one on matters that can be decided by factual and rational means and that one is not to be faulted for rejecting unreasonable parts of the scriptures of one's school. However, scripture is to be relied upon when dealing with "radically inaccessible things", such as the laws of karma and soteriology. However, according to Dharmakīrti scripture is a fallible source of knowledge and has no claim to certainty.[2]
Dharmakīrti made significant contributions to Buddhist epistemology by refining the theory of inference, which addresses a central problem left unresolved by his predecessor, Dignāga. Dharmakīrti's approach ensures that the evidence (e.g. smoke) must always be present when the predicate (e.g. fire) is present, thereby providing a stronger foundation for inferential reasoning.[14]
Metaphysics
According to Buddhologist
Dharmakīrti's ultimately real (paramārthasat) particulars are contrasted with conventionally real entities (saṃvṛtisat) as part of his presentation of the Buddhist Two truths doctrine. The conventionally real for him are based on linguistic categories, intellectual constructs, and erroneous superimpositions on the flow of reality, such as the idea that universals exist.[5] According to Dharmakīrti, cognitive distortion of the direct perception of particulars occurs during the process of recognition (pratyabhijñāna) and perceptual judgment (niścaya) which arises due to latent tendencies (vāsanā) in the mind left over from past impressions of similar perceptions. These latent dispositions come together into constructed representations of the previously experienced object at the moment of perception, and hence it is an imposed error on the real, a pseudo-perception (pratyakṣābhāsa) which conceals (saṃvṛti) reality while at the same time being practically useful for navigating it.[5] Ignorance (avidyā) for Dharmakīrti is conceptuality, pseudo-perception and superimposition overlaid on the naturally radiant (prabhāsvara) nature of pure perception. By correcting these defilements of perception through mental cultivation as well as using inference to gain "insight born of (rational) reflection" (cintāmayī prajñā) a Buddhist yogi is able to better see the true nature of reality until his perception is fully perfected.[5]
Dharmakīrti, again following
Dharmakīrti developed his philosophical system to defend Buddhist doctrines, so it is no surprise that he developed many of arguments for
Dharmakīrti also defended the Buddhist theory of momentariness (kṣaṇikatva), which held that dharmas spontaneously perish the moment they arise. Dharmakīrti came up with an argument for the theory which stated that since anything that exists has a causal power, the fact that its causal power is in effect proves it is always changing. For Dharmakīrti, nothing could be a cause while remaining the same, and any permanent thing would be causally inert.[2]
Philosophy of mind
Dharmakīrti defends Dignāga's theory of consciousness being non-conceptually reflexive (svasamvitti or svasaṃvedana). This is the idea that an act of intentional consciousness is also aware of itself as aware.[2] Consciousness is said to illuminate itself like a lamp that illuminates objects in a room as well as itself. Dharmakīrti also defends the Yogācāra theory of "awareness-only" (vijñaptimātratā), which holds that 'external objects' of perception do not exist.[2] According to Dharmakīrti, an object of cognition is not external or separate from the act of cognition itself. This is because the object is "necessarily experienced simultaneously with the cognition [itself]" (Pramāṇavārttika 3.387).[5] The view that there is a duality (dvaya) between an object (grāhya) and a subjective cognition (grāhaka) arises out of ignorance.
Dharmakīrti's Substantiation of Other Mindstreams (Saṃtānāntarasiddhi) is a treatise on the nature of the mindstream and Buddhist response to the problem of other minds[15] Dharmakirti held the mindstream to be a beginning-less yet also described the mindstream as a temporal sequence, and that as there are no true beginnings, there are no true endings, hence, the "beginningless time" motif that is frequently used to describe the concept of mindstream.[16]
Affiliation
There is disagreement among Indian and Tibetan doxographers as to how to categorise Dharmakīrti's thoughts. The Gelug school asserts that he expressed Yogācāra views, most non-Gelug Tibetan commentators assert that he expressed Sautrāntika views and, according to one Tibetan source, several of renowned later Indian Madhyamikas asserted that he expressed Madhyamaka views.[17]
Among modern scholars, some like Tillemans argue that Dharmakīrti represented the Yogācāra school, while Amar Singh argues that he was a Sautrāntika.[18] For Christine Mullikin Keyt, Dharmakīrti represents a "synthesis of two schools of Indian Buddhism, the Sautrantika and the Yogacara."[19] Likewise, Dan Arnold argues that Dharmakīrti's alternating philosophical perspectives of Sautrāntika and Yogācāra views are ultimately compatible and are applied at different levels of his 'sliding scale of analysis.'[20]
There is also a tendency to see Dignāga and Dharmakīrti as founding a new type of Buddhist school or tradition, which is known in Tibetan as "those who follow reasoning" (rigs pa rjes su 'brang ba) and sometimes is known in modern literature as pramāṇavāda.
Writings and commentaries
Dharmakīrti is credited with the following major works:[21]
- Sambandhaparīkṣā and Sambandhaparīkṣāvṛtti (Analysis of Relations)
- Sambandhaparīkṣāvṛtti (Analysis of Relations auto-commentary)
- Pramāṇaviniścaya (Ascertainment of Valid Cognition)
- Pramāṇavārttika-kārika (Commentary on Dignāga's Pramāṇasamuccaya)
- Pramāṇavārttikasvavrtti (auto-commentary on the above text)
- Nyāyabinduprakaraṇa (Drop of Logic)
- Hetubindunāmaprakaraṇa (Drop of Reason)
- Saṃtānāntarasiddhināmaprakaraṇa (Proof of Others' Mindstreams)
- Vādanyāyanāmaprakaraṇa (Reasoning for Debate)
There are various commentaries by later thinkers on Dharmakīrti, the earliest commentators are the Indian scholars Devendrabuddhi (ca. 675 CE.) and Sakyabuddhi (ca. 700 C.E.).[22] Other Indian commentators include Karṇakagomin, Prajñākaragupta, Manorathanandin, Ravigupta and Śaṅkaranandana.[23]
He was extremely influential in Tibet, where Phya pa Chos kyi Seng ge (1182-1251) wrote the first summary of his works, called "Clearing of Mental Obscuration with Respect to the Seven Treatises on Valid Cognition" (tshad ma sde bdun yid gi mun sel). Sakya Pandita wrote the "Treasure on the Science of Valid Cognition" (tshad ma rigs gter) and interpreted Dharmakirti as an anti-realist against Phya pa's realism.[24] These two main interpretations of Dharmakīrti became the foundation for most debates in Tibetan epistemology.
See also
- Dignāga
- Hetucakra
- Trairūpya
- Buddhist logic
- Pramana
- Buddhist atomism
- Epistemology
- William of Ockham
References
- ^ Lopez, Donald (2014). "Dharmakīrti". The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Tom Tillemans (2011), Dharmakirti, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- ISBN 978-0-226-49324-4.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-208-0272-8.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Eltschinger 2010.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7425-7686-5.
- ISBN 9781351030885.
- ^ Vincent, Eltschinger. "Dharmakīrti". Brill's Encyclopedia of Buddhism Online.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-208-0281-0.
- ISBN 978-81-208-0272-8.
- ISBN 978-0-231-13599-3.
- ISBN 978-0-674-00187-9.
- ^ Cabezón, José I., 2000, "Truth in Buddhist Theology," in R. Jackson and J. Makransky, (eds.), Buddhist Theology, Critical Reflections by Contemporary Buddhist Scholars. London: Curzon, 136–154.
- ^ Dunne, John D. Dharmakirti, Foundations Of Dharmakirtis Philosophy John Dunne D. Wisdom Publications. pp. 148–151.
- ^ Source: [1] (accessed: Wednesday 28 October 2009). There is an English translation of this work by Gupta (1969: pp.81–121) which is a rendering of Stcherbatsky's work from the Russian: Gupta, Harish C. (1969). Papers of Th. Stcherbatsky. Calcutta: Indian Studies Past and Present. (translated from Russian by Harish C. Gupta).
- ^ Dunne 2004, p. 1.
- ^ Ngawang Palden in the Sautrantika chapter of his Explanation of the Conventional and the Ultimate in the Four Systems of Tenets (Grub mtha' bzhi'i lugs kyi kun rdzob dang don dam pa'i don rnam par bshad pa legs bshad dpyid kyi dpal mo'i glu dbyangs, New Delhi: Guru Deva, 1972, 39.5–39.6) says that some such as Prajñakaragupta, Suryagupta, Shantarakshita, Kamalashila, and Jetari interpret Dharmakirti's Commentary on [Dignaga's] Compendium of Valid Cognition (Tshad ma rnam 'grel, Pramanavarttika) as a Madhyamika treatise. Dependent-Arising and Emptiness: A Tibetan Buddhist Interpretation of Madhyamika Philosophy Emphasizing the Compatibility of Emptiness and Conventional Phenomena Napper, Elizabeth. Boston: Wisdom Publications. p. 685, note 142
- ^ Singh, Amar; The Heart of Buddhist Philosophy: Dinnaga and Dharmakīrti, New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1984. xvi + 168 pp. Appendices, glossary, bibliography and indices.
- ^ Keyt, Christine Mullikin; Dharmakīrti's concept of the Svalakṣaṇa, 1980, https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/handle/1773/5723
- ^ Arnold, Dan; Buddhist Idealism, Epistemic and Otherwise: Thoughts on the Alternating Perspectives of Dharmakīrti, 2008
- ^ Epistemology and Argumentation in South Asia and Tibet (EAST). "Dharmakīrti". east.ikga.oeaw.ac.at. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- ^ Dunne 2004, p. 4.
- ^ Cluster of Excellence "Asia and Europe in a Global Context" of the University of Heidelberg, http://east.uni-hd.de/buddh/ind/7/16/ Archived 8 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Recognizing Reality: Dharmakirti's Philosophy and its Tibetan Interpretations, (Suny: 1997), page 23-24
Bibliography
- Dreyfus, Georges (1997). Recognizing Reality: Dharmakirti's Philosophy and Its Tibetan Interpretations. New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-3098-9. extensive discussion of the Dharmakirti's Tibetan reception
- Dunne, John D. (2004). Foundations of Dharmakirti's Philosophy. Somerville, Mass.: Wisdom Publications. ]
- Eltschinger, Vincent (2010). "Dharmakīrti: Revue internationale de philosophie". Buddhist Philosophy. 2010.3 (253): 397–440.
- Pecchia, C. (ed., with the assistance of Pierce P.). (2015). Dharmakīrti on the Cessation of Suffering. A Critical Edition with Translation and Comments of Manorathanandin's Vṛtti and Vibhūticandraʼs Glosses on Pramāṇavārttika II.190-216. Leiden, Brill.
- JSTOR 1399177.).
- ISBN 978-0-86171-156-7.
External links
- Tillemans, Tom. "Dharmakirti". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.