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The First Chapter of Karmapa Chodrak Gyatso's Ocean of Literature on Logic & the Corresponding Chapter from Dharmakirti's Commentary on Validity
One major issue for all thinkers and spiritual practitioners is how to know whether the teachings they are following are true and valid and whether their understanding of them is correct. The study of validity, which developed out of the works of Dignaga and Dharmakirti, gives them the necessary tools to determine this for themselves.
This book presents the first chapter of the Seventh Karmapa Chodrak Gyatso's Ocean of Literature on Logic--which he composed entirely from memory while sitting in meditation without referring to any texts--along with the work it explains, the first chapter of Dharmakirti's Commentary on Validity. Together, these works explain what it means for our knowledge to be valid and why the Buddha is an authority we can trust. Along the way, it also explains many other issues of relevance to any practitioner, among them whether there is a creator god, why we should meditate on compassion, and the natures of the four noble truths.
In particular, this chapter is renowned for its seminal explanation of the proof of rebirth. This makes it an indispensable text for anyone who wants to deepen their understanding and challenge their own beliefs to see whether they are valid or not.
In India and Tibet, the works on validity formed one of the five great topics of Buddhism. This book presents one of the most important aspects of that topic in a clear and accessible translation. It will form an essential part of the studies for any scholar or practitioner of Mahayana and Tibetan Buddhism.
Establishing Validity, Dharmakirti & Seventh Karmapa Chodrak Gyatso, KTD Publications, Hardcover, 343 Pages, 2016, $34.95
The Seventh Karmapa Chodrak Gyatso (1454-1506) was recognized soon after his birth as the reincarnation of the Sixth Karmapa Thongwa Donden. He showed his remarkable talents from an early age, giving Dharma teachings even as a small child. He received countless transmissions primarily from his guru Goshri Paljor Dondrup, and became renowned not just for the breadth and depth of his knowledge but also for remaining continually within samadhi meditation. He spent his life traveling throughout Tibet in the Great Encampment, settling conflicts and bringing peace wherever he went.
Dharmakirti (7th c.) is universally renowned as one of the greatest philosophers India produced in the first millennium. Born into a Brahmin family, he first mastered the Vedas and non-Buddhist philosophies but realized their faults when he encountered the Buddhist scriptures. He became a master of Buddhist logic and philosophy, developing an unrivaled understanding of the works of Dignaga in particular. His own works, including The Commentary on Validity, continue to form an integral part of the studies of Buddhist and non-Buddhist philosophy in India and Tibet to this day.
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CONTENTS: Establishing Validity
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Foreword by His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje
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vii
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Foreword by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche
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ix
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Translator's Introduction
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xi
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A Note on the Numbering of Verses
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xlv
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A Brief Introduction to Indo-Tibetan Logic
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xlvii
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Acknowledgments
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lv
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PART 1
Establishing Validity: The First Chapter of The Ocean of Literature on Logic by the Seventh Karmapa Chodrak Gyatso
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1
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PART 2
Establishing Validity: The First Chapter of
The Commentary in Verse on Validity by Acarya Dharmakirti
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235
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Appendix 1: The Outline of "Establishing Validity" According to
The Ocean of Literature on Logic
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277
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Appendix 2: Works in the Tengyur Attributed to Dignaga and Dharmakirti
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289
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Sources and Abbreviations
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291
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Notes
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295
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Index
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329
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Features
The great Indian panditas Dignaga and Dharmakirti founded a system of logic and epistemology that revolutionized Indian thought by systematizing the Buddha's teachings on the way mind sees its world. Their thought remains an indispensable pillar of Buddhist studies to this day. Through the centuries of Indian and Tibetan commentary upon the seminal works of these two masters, few texts, if any, can compare to the profundity and breadth of Ocean of Literature on Logic by the Seventh Karmapa, Chodrak Gyatso. By commenting on the line-by-line meaning of Dignaga and Dharmakirti's verses, as well as providing a wealth of in-depth analysis of their implied meaning, the Seventh Karmapa's magnum opus stands as one of the finest accomplishments of Tibetan scholarship. I am therefore very happy that, under the sage guidance of the great Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, David Karma Choephel has made available to the public an English translation of the first chapter of the Ocean of Literature on Logic, the chapter that deals with establishing the Buddha as a source of authoritative knowledge. I rejoice in this wonderful contribution to the field of studies of valid cognition; I am confident that students of Buddhism, as well as other sciences of knowledge, will derive great benefit from this book.
-- Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, author of Emotional Rescue
This book makes a great contribution by providing an excellent translation of the first chapter of one of the most important Tibetan works on Buddhist logic and epistemology by the Seventh Karmapa. His work offers a unique and masterful synthesis of the works and ideas of the great Buddhist thinkers Dignaga and Dharmakirti and hence should be of interest to all those who are interested in Buddhist philosophy. By providing us with this very accessible translation, David Karma Choephel offers his readers an ideal avenue into this complex tradition and I greatly look forward to future volumes. This volume examines more specifically Dharmakirti's proofs of past and future lives and of the possibility of enlightenment, and hence should be of great interest to all those, Buddhist or not, who are interested by these fundamental topics.
-- George Dreyfus, Jackson Professor of Religion at Williams College and author of Recognizing Reality
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