Tagged: Vasubandhu
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Eltschinger - Ignorance, epistemology and soteriology Part I (2009)
1In his analysis of the 7th-century Buddhist philosopher Dharmakīrti, Vincent Eltschinger argues that Dharmakīrti's epistemology is fundamentally intertwined with his soteriological project, centering on the concept of ignorance (avidyā). Dharmakīrti defines ignorance not as a mere lack of knowledge but as an active, erroneous cognition (mithyopalabdhi) that functions as a counter-knowledge, obstructing the perception of reality. This error is identified with conceptual thought (vikalpa) itself, which, through a process of 'concealment' (saṃvṛti), superimposes unifying constructs onto reality's diverse particulars. To explain how this cognitive error leads to suffering, Dharmakīrti specifies that the most crucial form of ignorance is the 'personalistic false view' (satkāyadrṣṭi)—the innate, conceptual belief in a self. He explicitly equates this false view with ignorance, arguing it is the root of all defilements and rebirth, and that its direct antidote — the perception of selflessness — is the key to liberation. While drawing on earlier scriptural traditions, Dharmakīrti was innovative in systematically equating the two and developing exegetical strategies to defend this unorthodox position.
Eltschinger - Ignorance, epistemology and soteriology Part II (2010)
2In the philosophy of Dharmakīrti, ignorance (avidyā) is defined as a "counter-knowledge" or conceptual construction that superimposes erroneous ideas onto reality, becoming soteriologically significant as the "personalistic false view" (satkāyadrṣṭi) — the mistaken belief in a "self" and "one's own." This specific form of ignorance is the root cause of all defilements like craving and aversion, thereby generating the cycle of rebirth and suffering (samsāra). Dharmakīrti's path to salvation is built upon two means of valid cognition - perception, which is true, direct, non-conceptual knowledge that grasps reality's selfless and momentary nature, and inference. Although inference is itself a conceptual process and thus part of ignorance, its crucial function is corrective. It does not aim to discover new truths, which perception has already accessed, but rather to eliminate the erroneous superimpositions that obscure perception. By systematically using inference to exclude false notions like permanence and selfhood, a practitioner achieves determinate cognition and purifies the mind, ultimately restoring perception to its inherently radiant and liberated state, free from the counteracting influence of ignorance.
Fiordalis - Miracles in Indian Buddhist narratives and doctrine (2010)
3The narrative of the Kāśyapa brothers' conversion, a cornerstone of early Buddhist texts like the Mahāvagga, illustrates a "thaumaturgical impasse" where the Buddha initially fails to convert rival ascetics through numerous displays of superhuman power, such as taming a fire-breathing serpent, but fails to convert the ascetic Kāśyapa, who remains convinced of his own spiritual superiority. The impasse is only broken when the Buddha employs telepathy to read Kāśyapa's prideful thoughts and confronts him directly, which finally leads to his conversion and is followed by the Buddha's "Fire Sermon." By comparing alternate versions of this story from different Buddhist schools, the author demonstrates that while some accounts suggest a hierarchy in which telepathy and teaching are superior to physical miracles, other versions blend these categories, indicating that early Buddhists did not hold a single, unified view on the relationship and effectiveness of the three types of miracles—superhuman power, mind-reading, and teaching the Dharma.
Krishan - Buddhism and Belief in Ātman (1984)
4The central question in Buddhism regarding a permanent soul, or *ātman*, presents a significant dilemma - the doctrine of *anattā* (no-soul) appears to contradict the belief in karma and rebirth, as it leaves no entity to bear the consequences of actions. The Buddha himself rejected the extreme views of both an eternal, unchanging soul and complete annihilation after death, instead advocating a middle path. Various Buddhist schools attempted to resolve this by proposing concepts that function like a soul without being one, such as a "rebirth-linking consciousness" (*patisandhi viññāna*), an "intermediate existence" (*antarābhava*), or an inexpressible "person" (*pudgala*). The author argues that the doctrine of *anattā* is primarily a rejection of the ego and the notions of "I" and "mine," which are the root of suffering, rather than a denial of a conscious principle. This is supported by the development of concepts like the "store-consciousness" (*ālaya-vijñāna*) and post-mortem rituals in Buddhist cultures, which imply belief in a transmigrating entity. Ultimately, Buddhism seems to deny a static, eternal soul but affirms a dynamic, impermanent yet continuous empirical self that carries karma and memory, likened to a river's current, which is only extinguished upon attaining *nirvāṇa*.
Wayman - The Sixteen Aspects of the Four Noble Truths and Their Opposites (2018)
5The sixteen aspects of the Four Noble Truths are a non-canonical elaboration found in Northern Buddhist Abhidharma texts, such as those by Vasubandhu and Asanga, but absent from the Southern tradition. This system assigns four specific aspects to each of the Four Noble Truths—Suffering, Source, Cessation, and Path—which are treated as objects of insight (*prajñā*). A key element of this framework is a corresponding list of sixteen "adversaries" or "coverings," detailed by Tsong-kha-pa, which represent mistaken views that obscure each aspect. Analyzing these aspects and their opposites reveals significant doctrinal debates; for instance, the aspects of Suffering (*duhkha, anitya, śūnya, anātman*) raise challenges in distinguishing 'voidness' from 'non-self', while the aspects for the Source of Suffering are linked to Dependent Origination and their adversaries to non-Buddhist theories of causality. The author proposes a correlation where the aspects for the Path lead to the aspects of Cessation, mapping them onto the three core Buddhist instructions of morality, mental training, and insight, thereby showing how the study of this framework illuminates the diverse ways different traditions interpreted their foundational teachings.