Pramana: Dharmakirti and the Indian Philosophical Debate

Pramana: Dharmakirti and the Indian Philosophical Debate

By- Lama Doboom Tulku and Maya Joshi (eds.)

Indian philosophical thought on Pramana (Valid Cognition) is a rich achieve that merits attention not only for its technical brilliance and variety but also for the ways in which it reverberates with contemporary discussions in science: arguably the ‘master discourse’ of the modern world. In a spirit of free and open enquiry, characteristic of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s preferred mode of engaging with the world, Tibet House collaborated with the Drepung Monastic University at Mundgod, Karnataka to organize a Monastic Debate that was both traditional and contemporary.

Tibetan Buddhism has a long tradition of Monastic Debates. This Debate was special in that it grew upon the pre-Buddhist traditions of thought on this critical question on Logic while also incorporating a perspective that leapt across the centuries: that of contemporary Physics. While the different schools such as Vedanta, Sankhya, Nyayavaisesika, Purvuamimamsa, and Jaina were represented by scholars from academia, there was a lively interaction with monks being trained in traditional Tibetan philosophy at monasteries across India.

The seminar was multilingual – with presentations and queries in Tibetan, Hindi, Sanskrit and English. While this book presents lightly edited versions of the key papers presented there, the lively debates in Tibetan could not be transcribed due to logistical difficulties. Hence, this bi-lingual volume, attempts to make available to the scholarly community and curious students a valuable resource for understanding this crucial issue in Logic from a rich, multifaceted, compariatist perspective.

Lama Daboom Tulku was born in Tibet in 1941 and recognized as the incarnation of the previous Doboom Tulku at the age of three by Ven. Lama Phurchog Jamgon Rinpoche. Since 1981 Lama Daboom Tulku has been Director of Tibet House, Cultural Centre of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in New Delhi, working for the promotion of Tibetan cultural heritage to a wide audience. He is the author of Buddhist Translations: Problems and Perspectives; Buddhist Path to Enlightenment and Gyalwai Chostsul.

Maya Joshi has inherited an interest in Buddhist studies which she keeps alive with her active association with Tibet House and the World Buddhist Culture Trust, of which she is a Trustee. She edits the Tibet House Bulletin and is on the Faculty of English, Lady Sri Ram College for Women, New Delhi.

ISBN  978-81-7304-855-5    2010   126p.   Rs.350/ pounds 35

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