Pramāṇa Series

Buddhist Philosophy › Pramāṇa

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Dignāga

Courtesy of Terton Sogyal Trust

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Texts on the theme of Pramāṇa (tshad ma) or valid cognition, the branch of knowledge which deals with logic and epistemology:

Benedictory Verses

Verses of aspiration written for the publication of A Brilliant Elucidation of Logical Reasoning (rigs lam rab gsal snang ba), Ju Mipham Namgyal Gyatso's annotation commentary (mchan 'grel) to Dignāga's Pramāṇasamuccaya.

Epistemology

Taken from the author's commentary on Sakya Paṇḍita's Treasury of Valid Reasoning (tshad ma rigs gter) entitled The Unmistaken Commentary on the Intention of the Seven Treatises [of Dharmakīrti] and the Sūtra [i.e the Pramāṇasamuccaya of Dignāga]—Clarifying the Meaning of the Treasury of Valid Reasoning, this is an examination of the objects of cognition according to Buddhist epistemology.

One of Mipham's best known works, this treatise in 104 verses was written in just a single day in 1885. It is structured around the four principles of reasoning (rigs pa bzhi)—of causal efficiency, dependence, nature and establishing a proof—and the four reliances (rton pa bzhi), i.e., Rely not on the individual but the Dharma; Rely not on the words but the meaning; Rely not on the provisional but the definitive meaning; Rely not on ordinary consciousness but wisdom.

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