Within Tibetan Buddhism has arisen a system of education and a curriculum designed to enable the student to develop a path of reasoning—a consciousness trained in reasoned analysis until capable of understanding first the meaning of religious texts and eventually the true nature of reality. An important aspect of Tibetan logic is that it is used to develop new and valid knowledge about oneself and the world. Included here is a translation of a text by Pur-bu-jok, the Thirteenth Dalai Lama's philosophy tutor on the topic of Signs and Reasonings—a manual introducing beginners to the principles, vocabulary, and concepts of the system of logic. The purpose of Pur-bu-jok's text is to lay a foundation for understanding how valid cognition is acquired. What is validity? How is valid knowledge acquired? What can be known? Further, what knowledge can be acquired through reasoning that will lead one to spiritual development and even to buddhahood? Katherine Rogers has enriched the translation with commentary by several eminent scholars of the Ge-luk-pa order, revealing a marvelous path that draws one into the heart of the Tibetan approach to knowledge and self-transformation. It is fundamental to Tibetan thought that true knowledge is practical, useful, and ultimately transforming and liberating. Such knowledge is far from obvious, but it can be attained through correct reasoning. Thus, logic is an important tool—a part of the spiritual path leading ultimately to complete self-transformation.

This is volume One of texts (from sanskrit and Tibetan sources) of the two planned volumes on Buddhist Ligic (the second volume to be on topics and opponents). This first volumes is in two parts. Part 1 has Asanga`s rules of Debate, Dharmakirti Nyayabindu with Kamalasila commentary and Santi-pa`s treatise on inner pervasion. Part II devoted to the Dignage-Dharmakirti system has five sets of eleven verses then a stydy if Bu-Ston`s commentary ib Dharmakirti`s Pramanaviniscaya and finally Tsong-kha-pa;s Mun sel on the seven books of Dharmakirti.

Tibetan Buddhist scholar-monks have long engaged in face-to-face public philosophical debates. This original study challenges Orientalist text-based scholarship, which has overlooked these lived practices of Tibetan dialectics. Kenneth Liberman brings these dynamic disputations to life for the modern reader through a richly detailed, turn-by-turn analysis of the monks' formal philosophical reasoning. He argues that Tibetan Buddhists deliberately organize their debates into formal structures that both empower and constrain thinking, skillfully using logic as an interactional tool to organize their reflections. During his three years in residence at Tibetan monastic universities, Liberman observed and videotaped the monks' debates. He then transcribed, translated, and analyzed them using multimedia software and ethnomethodological techniques, which enabled him to scrutinize the local methods that Tibetan debaters use to keep their philosophical inquiries alive. His study shows the monks rely on such indigenous dialectical methods as extending an opponent's position to its absurd consequences, "pulling the rug out" from under an opponent, and other lively strategies. This careful investigation of the formal philosophical work of Tibetan scholars is a pathbreaking analysis of an important classical tradition.

Dreyfus examines the central ideas of Dharmakīrti, one of the most important Indian Buddhist philosophers, and their reception among Tibetan thinkers. During the golden age of ancient Indian civilization, Dharmakīrti articulated and defended Buddhist philosophical principles. He did so more systematically than anyone before his time (the seventh century CE) and was followed by a rich tradition of profound thinkers in India and Tibet. This work presents a detailed picture of this Buddhist tradition and its relevance to the history of human ideas. Its perspective is mostly philosophical, but it also uses historical considerations as they relate to the evolution of ideas.

This volume collects essays by philosophers and scholars working at the interface of Western philosophy and Buddhist Studies. Many have distinguished scholarly records in Western philosophy, with expertise in analytic philosophy and logic, as well as deep interest in Buddhist philosophy. Others have distinguished scholarly records in Buddhist Studies with strong interests in analytic philosophy and logic. All are committed to the enterprise of cross-cultural philosophy and to bringing the insights and techniques of each tradition to bear in order to illuminate problems and ideas of the other. These essays address a broad range of topics in the philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, logic, epistemology, and metaphysics, and demonstrate the fecundity of the interaction between the Buddhist and Western philosophical and logical traditions.

A clear and thorough exposition of the practice and theory of Buddhist logix and epistemology.

Reason's Traces addresses some of the key questions in the study of Indian and Buddhist thought: the analysis of personal identity and of ultimate reality, the interpretation of Tantric texts and traditions, and Tibetan approaches to the interpretation of Indian sources. Drawing on a wide range of scholarship, Reason's Traces reflects current work in philosophical analysis and hermeneutics, inviting readers to explore in a Buddhist context the relationship between philosophy and traditions of spiritual exercise.

Articulating the basic metaphysical framework common to Buddhist traditions, this book explores questions in metaphysics, the philosophy of mind, phenomenology, epistemology, the philosophy of language, and ethics as they are addressed in a variety of Asian Buddhist traditions. Focusing on philosophical problems, in each case the connections between Buddhist and contemporary Western debates are examined, as are the distinctive contributions the Buddhist tradition can make to Western discussions.

Arising and emptiness are the two essential Buddhist concepts, which when understood, lead to the highest school of Buddhist philosophy.

In this book, Geshe Michael has written out 100 of the most common questions he is asked by couples around the world who want to apply the deep knowledge of ancient times to their relationship. He then presents amazing, unexpected, and very effective answers to each question, drawing directly from ancient sources. Whether your goal is to find the soulmate wife or husband of your life; to keep the one that you have already found; or to be truly happy with them for the rest of your life, this book has been praised as a godsend by hundreds of people around the world