Ratnakīrti (11th century CE) was an Indian Buddhist philosopher of the

Yogācāra Yogachara ( sa, योगाचार, IAST: '; literally "yoga practice"; "one whose practice is yoga") is an influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through t ...

and epistemological (''pramāṇavāda'') schools who wrote on logic,

philosophy of mind Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the ontology and nature of the mind and its relationship with the body. The mind–body problem is a paradigmatic issue in philosophy of mind, although a number of other issues are add ...

and

epistemology Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Epis ...

. Ratnakīrti studied at the Vikramaśīla monastery in modern-day

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

. 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. He was one of the last Buddhist philosophers in India.

Philosophy

Ratnakīrti's "Refutation of Other mindstreams" (''Santānāntaradūṣaṇa'') argued that knowledge of external streams of consciousness ( citta-santāna) is a form of inference (anumāna) and not direct perception (pratyakṣa). Ratnakīrti introduced the

two truths The Buddhist doctrine of the two truths (Sanskrit: ''dvasatya,'' ) differentiates between two levels of '' satya'' (Sanskrit; Pali: ''sacca''; word meaning "truth" or "reality") in the teaching of the Śākyamuni Buddha: the "conventional" or " ...

doctrine as key to the nature of the discussion. Since inference deals with conceptual universals, the proof of the mindstreams of others, whilst empirically valid in relative truth (saṃvṛtisatya), does not hold ultimate metaphysical certainty in absolute truth (paramārthasatya). Ratnakīrti, therefore, argued for the ultimate truth of only "one mind" (ekacitta). By establishing the impossibility of external mindstreams, Ratnakīrti was also arguing for the

non-dualism Nondualism, also called nonduality and nondual awareness, is a fuzzy concept originating in Indian philosophy and religion for which many definitions can be found, including: nondual awareness, the nonduality of seer and seen or nondiffe ...

"consciousness-only". Ratnakīrti argued that from an ultimate point of view, the distinctions between a subject and object, or the observer and the observed, all disappear. Ratnakīrti's theory states that there is no logical foundation for individuating mindstreams, and that there are no boundaries between minds from the perspective of ultimate truth. This sub-school of

, Cittamātra (mind only), is also known as the ''Citrādvaitavāda'' school (non-dual mind) or ''Vijñānādvaitavāda'' school (non-dual consciousness). Ratnakīrti's "Refutation of Arguments Establishing Īśvara" (''Īśvarasādhanadūṣaṇa'') argued against the Hindu concept of a

creator God A creator deity or creator god (often called the Creator) is a deity responsible for the creation of the Earth, world, and universe in human religion and mythology. In monotheism, the single God is often also the creator. A number of monolatris ...

. He wrote that it is not possible to establish Īśvara through inference as the Naiyāyikas did. Although the mindstreams of others are regarded as relatively true, they are not ultimately true.The text begins with an explanation of the Nyāya belief system, followed by a criticism of inferences which establish an intelligent creator.Against a Hindu God: Buddhist Philosophy of Religion in India. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009. . Ratnakīrti's "Proof of Exclusion" (''Apohasiddhi'') establishes a theory of exclusion which follows Dignāga's theory of the same. It explains how thoughts and perception become understood through inference, and it is a theory of definitions and meaning-making. There are three types of exclusion described in the text.

Works

Works attributed to Ratnakīrti include: *''Apohasiddhi'' - In this work, he explains the three types of exclusion. *''Īśvarasādhanadūṣaṇa'' - This work critiques the way of knowing a singular deity. *''Kṣaṇabhaṅgasiddhi'' ( anvayātmikā ) - In this work, he defended the theory of momentariness, the view that dharmas last only for a moment. *''Kṣaṇabhaṅgasiddhi'' ( vyatirekātmikā ) - The world is illusory and only relatively true. *''Citrādvaitaprakāśavāda'' - The mind manifests awareness variously and non-dually. This awareness takes the form of a single image, and the various aspects of the image comprise perception. *''Pramāṇāntarbhāvaprakaraṇa'' - This work explained the epistemology of Ratnakīrti. *''Vyāptinirṇaya'' - It was inspired by the Vyāpticarcā of Jñānaśrīmitra and clarified the main ideas about the limits of pervasiveness. *''Santānāntaradūṣaṇa'' - This is a proof of solipsism as the way to highest truth. *''Sarvajñasiddhi'' - Ratnakīrti's perfection of knowledge. *''Sthirasiddhidūṣaṇa'' - This text rejects the permanence of dharmas. *''Udayanīrakaranam'' - The works are compiled in ''Ratnakīrtinibandhāvali.''

Notes

8. McAllister, Patrick. "Ratnakirti and Dharmottara on the Object of Activity." Journal of Indian Philosophy; Dordrecht Vol. 42, Iss. 2-3, (Jun 2014): 309-326. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ratnakirti 11th-century Buddhist monks Buddhist logic Buddhist writers History of logic Idealists Indian scholars of Buddhism Monks of Vikramashila Yogacara

Philosophy

Works

See also

Notes