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Ratnakīrti
Ratnakīrti (11th century CE) was an Indian Buddhist philosopher of the Yogācāra and epistemological (''pramāṇavāda'') schools who wrote on logic, philosophy of mind and epistemology. Ratnakīrti studied at the Vikramaśīla monastery in modern-day Bihar. He was a pupil of Jñānaśrīmitra, and Ratnakīrti refers to Jñānaśrīmitra in his work as his ''guru'' with phrases such as ''yad āhur guravaḥ''. Ratnakīrti's work has been termed as "more concise and logical though not so poetical" compared to that of his teacher, although he does build on much of Jñānaśrīmitra's work. Life Ratnakīrti was active sometime between 1000 and 1050 CE. Among his contemporaries at Vikramashila were Ratnākaraśānti and Jñanasrimitra. Ratnakīrti engaged with both of them on an intellectual level and it is clear that Ratnakīrti was Jñānaśrīmitra's student on subjects relating to logico-epistemological topics as the former often quotes the latter as his "''guru''". W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jñanasrimitra
Jñānaśrīmitra (fl. 975-1025 C.E.) was an Indian Buddhist philosopher of the epistemological (''pramana'') tradition of Buddhist philosophy, which goes back to Dignāga and Dharmakīrti. Jñānaśrīmitra was also known as a Yogācāra Buddhist who defended a form of Buddhist idealism termed ''Sākāravada'' which holds that cognitive content or aspects of consciousness ("ākāras") are real and not illusory.Tomlinson, D.KThe Marvel of Consciousness: Existence and Manifestation in Jñānaśrīmitra’s ''Sākārasiddhiśāstra''.''J Indian Philos'' 50, 163–199 (2022). In addition to his philosophical works, Jñānaśrīmitra was also a skilled poet and a ''dvāra-paṇḍita'' (gate-scholar) of Vikramaśīla university. Among his many students who declared themselves to be his students or were declared by others include Ratnakīrti, Atiśa and Advayavajra among others. Jñānaśrīmitra was also well-known by Hindu and Jain thinkers and his name has been referenced in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yogācāra
Yogachara (, IAST: ') is an influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through the interior lens of meditation, as well as philosophical reasoning (hetuvidyā). Yogachara was one of the two most influential traditions of Mahayana, Mahayana Buddhism in India, along with Madhyamaka. The compound ''Yogācāra'' literally means "practice of yoga", or "one whose practice is yoga", hence the name of the school is literally "the school of the yogins". Yogācāra was also variously termed ''Vijñānavāda'' (the doctrine of consciousness), ''Vijñaptivāda'' (the doctrine of ideas or percepts) or ''Vijñaptimātratā-vāda'' (the doctrine of 'mere representation'), which is also the name given to its major theory of mind which seeks to deconstruct how we perceive the world. There are several interpretations of this main theory: various forms of Idealism, as well as a Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ratnākaraśānti
Ratnākaraśānti (also known as Ratnākara, Śāntipa, and Śānti) (late 10th-century CE to mid 11th-century CE) was an influential Buddhist philosopher and vajrayana tantric adept and scholar. He was the "gate scholar" of Vikramaśilā university's eastern gate (modern-day Bihar in India), a key post in the university's leadership. Ratnākara was known by the title ''kalikālasarvajña'' ("the Omniscient One of the Degenerate Age") and is depicted as one of the eighty-four mahāsiddhas (great yogic masters). Ratnākara wrote over forty works which include several influential commentaries to Mahayana sutras and tantras (especially the '' Hevajra tantra''), treatises on Yogācāra, Madhyamaka, and Pramāṇa. Because his unique philosophy attempts to merge the insights of both Yogācāra and Madhyamaka, Ratnākara referred to it as Trisvabhāva-mādhyamaka ("the middle way of the three natures"). He also known as a major defender of the "nirākāravāda" (without images") in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vikramashila
Vikramashila ( IAST: ) was a Buddhist monastery situated in what is now modern-day Bihar in India. It was founded by King Dharmapala between the late eighth and early ninth century. It was one of the three most important Buddhist Mahaviharas of its time in India, along with Nalanda and Odantapuri. Its location is now the site of Antichak village near Kahalgaon, Bhagalpur district in Bihar. It was one of the largest Buddhist mahaviharas, with more than one hundred teachers and about one thousand students. It produced eminent scholars who were often invited by foreign countries to spread Buddhist learning, culture and religion including Atiśa and Ratnākaraśānti. Vikramashila was established by the Pala emperor Dharmapala (783 to 820 CE) in response to a supposed decline in the quality of scholarship at Nalanda. It was destroyed by the forces of Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji around 1193. History A number of monasteries grew up during the Pāla period in medieva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vikramaśīla
Vikramashila (IAST: ) was a Buddhist monastery situated in what is now modern-day Bihar in India. It was founded by King Dharmapala between the late eighth and early ninth century. It was one of the three most important Buddhist Mahaviharas of its time in India, along with Nalanda and Odantapuri. Its location is now the site of Antichak village near Kahalgaon, Bhagalpur district in Bihar. It was one of the largest Buddhist mahaviharas, with more than one hundred teachers and about one thousand students. It produced eminent scholars who were often invited by foreign countries to spread Buddhist learning, culture and religion including Atiśa and Ratnākaraśānti. Vikramashila was established by the Pala emperor Dharmapala (783 to 820 CE) in response to a supposed decline in the quality of scholarship at Nalanda. It was destroyed by the forces of Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji around 1193. History A number of monasteries grew up during the Pāla period in medieval Bengal and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prajñakaragupta
Prajñākaragupta (also: Prajñakara, Sanskrit, Tibetan: ''shes rab 'byung gnas sbas pa,'' ca. 8th–9th century) was a Buddhist philosopher of the Epistemological school. He is known for his extensive magnum opus, the ''Pramāṇavārttikālaṃkāra'' (''The Ornament of the Commentary on Epistemology''), a commentary on Dharmakīrti's '' Pramāṇavārttika'' which runs to over 16,200 Sanskrit ślokas.Franco, Eli, “Prajñākaragupta”, in: Brill's Encyclopedia of Buddhism Online, Editor-in-Chief: Jonathan A. Silk, Volume Editors: Richard Bowring, Vincent Eltschinger, Oskar von Hinüber. Consulted online on 14 March 2024 Shinya Moriyama, "Prajñākaragupta: Buddhist Epistemology as the Path to the Wisdom of Non-Duality", in Edelglass (ed) et al. ''The Routledge Handbook of Indian Buddhist Philosophy'' (Routledge Handbooks in Philosophy), pp. 528-539. Routledge (2022).Franco, Eli. "Towards a Critical Edition and Translation of the Pramāṇavārttikālaṃkārabhāṣya: A Pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vikramshila 2012-08-10-17
Vikramashila (IAST: ) was a Buddhist monastery situated in what is now modern-day Bihar in India. It was founded by King Dharmapala between the late eighth and early ninth century. It was one of the three most important Buddhist Mahaviharas of its time in India, along with Nalanda and Odantapuri. Its location is now the site of Antichak village near Kahalgaon, Bhagalpur district in Bihar. It was one of the largest Buddhist mahaviharas, with more than one hundred teachers and about one thousand students. It produced eminent scholars who were often invited by foreign countries to spread Buddhist learning, culture and religion including Atiśa and Ratnākaraśānti. Vikramashila was established by the Pala emperor Dharmapala (783 to 820 CE) in response to a supposed decline in the quality of scholarship at Nalanda. It was destroyed by the forces of Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khalji around 1193. History A number of monasteries grew up during the Pāla period in medieval Bengal and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddhist Logico-epistemology
Buddhist logico-epistemology is a term used in Western scholarship to describe Buddhism, Buddhist systems of ' (Epistemology, epistemic tool, valid cognition) and ' (reasoning, logic). While the term may refer to various Buddhist systems and views on reasoning and epistemology, it is most often used to refer to the work of the "Epistemological school" (Sanskrit: ), i.e. the school of Dignāga, Dignaga and Dharmakirti which developed from the 5th through 7th centuries and remained the main system of Buddhist reasoning until the Decline of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent, decline of Buddhism in India. The early Buddhist texts show that the Gautama Buddha, historical Buddha was familiar with certain rules of reasoning used for debating purposes and made use of these against his opponents. He also seems to have held certain ideas about epistemology and reasoning, though he did not put forth a logico-epistemological system. The Theravada ''Kathāvatthu'' contains some rules on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddhist Tantric Literature
Buddhist tantric literature refers to the vast and varied literature of the Vajrayāna (or Mantrayāna) Buddhist traditions. The earliest of these works are a genre of Indian Buddhist tantric scriptures, variously named Tantras, Sūtras and Kalpas, which were composed from the 7th century CE onwards. They are followed by later tantric commentaries (called pañjikās and ṭīkās), original compositions by Vajrayana authors (called prakaraṇas and upadeśas), sādhanas (practice texts), ritual manuals (kalpas or vidhis), collections of tantric songs ( dohās) odes (stotra), or hymns, and other related works. Tantric Buddhist literature survives in various languages, including Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese. Most Indian sources were composed in Sanskrit, but numerous tantric works were also composed in other languages like Tibetan and Chinese. Overview History Buddhist Tantric texts may have begun appearing during the Gupta Period (320–550 CE). However, the earliest kn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abhayakaragupta
Abhayākaragupta ( Wylie: 'jigs-med 'byung-gnas sbas-pa) was a Buddhist monk, scholar and tantric master (''vajracarya'') and the abbot of Vikramasila monastery in modern-day, Bihar in India. He was born in somewhere in Eastern India, and is thought to have flourished in the late 11th-early 12th century CE, and died in 1125 CE.Nakamura, Hajime. (1980) ''Indian Buddhism: A Survey with Biographical Notes''. 1st Indian Edition (1987), Motilal Barnasidass, Delhi, p. 335. Abhayākaragupta's magnum opus, the ''Vajravali'', is a "grand synthesis of tantric liturgy" which developed a single harmonized tantric ritual system which could be applied to all Tantric Buddhist mandalas. According to A.K. Warder, Abhayākaragupta developed the Mantrayana-Madhyamaka doctrine to its final Indic form. Matthew Kapstein sees him as "among the last great masters of Buddhism in India." Life Some Tibetan sources identify his birthplace as ''Jarikhanda'' which Taranatha places next to Odisha. Gudr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dharmakīrti
Dharmakīrti (fl. ;), was an influential Indian Buddhist philosopher who worked at Nālandā.Tom Tillemans (2011)Dharmakirti Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy He was one of the key scholars of epistemology (pramāṇa) in Buddhist philosophy, and is associated with the Yogācāra and Sautrāntika schools. He was also one of the primary theorists of Buddhist atomism. His works influenced the scholars of Mīmāṃsā, Nyaya and Shaivism schools of Hindu philosophy as well as scholars of Jainism. 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. History Little is known for certain about the life of Dharmakirti. As per John Taber, the only reliable information that we have about his life was that he was a tea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Non-dualism
Nondualism includes a number of philosophical and spiritual traditions that emphasize the absence of fundamental duality or separation in existence. This viewpoint questions the boundaries conventionally imposed between self and other, mind and body, observer and observed, and other dichotomies that shape our perception of reality. As a field of study, nondualism delves into the concept of nonduality and the state of nondual awareness, encompassing a diverse array of interpretations, not limited to a particular cultural or religious context; instead, nondualism emerges as a central teaching across various belief systems, inviting individuals to examine reality beyond the confines of dualistic thinking. Nondualism emphasizes direct experience as a path to understanding. While intellectual comprehension has its place, nondualism emphasizes the transformative power of firsthand encounters with the underlying unity of existence. Through practices like meditation and self- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
