Light Of Samantabhadra: An Explanation Of Dharmakirti'S Commentary On Valid Cognition (The Khenpo Appey Collection Of Sakya Classics)

Among the many works produced in the rich philosophical tradition of India's classical age, few have had more impact than Dharmakirti's Commentary on Valid Cognition (Prama?avarttika). Composed in India in the seventh century, it became the cornerstone for the study of logic and epistemology in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. This work translated here is by one of the premier scholars of the Sakya school, Gorampa Sönam Sengé (1429-89). It illuminates the first two chapters of Dharmakirti's work, those on using inference to enlighten oneself (svarthanumana) and on establishing valid cognition (prama?asiddhi) both to determine the authority of the Buddha as a valid teacher and to eliminate the cognitive obstacles to awakening. The root text is composed in compact verses, and these are translated here along with Gorampa's word-by-word commentary that reveals their often veiled meanings. These chapters explore key issues in the philosophy of language and the nature of conventional designation, the way to employ sound reasoning, the proof of past and future lives, and the way to eliminate the view of self. In the skilled hands of translator Gavin Kilty, these insights are made accessible--

• | Author: Gavin Kilty
• | Publisher: Wisdom Publications
• | Publication Date: Jul 18, 2023
• | Number of Pages: 536 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Hardcover
• | ISBN-10: 1614297517
• | ISBN-13: 9781614297512