Light of Samantaghadra

"Among the many works produced in the rich philosophical tradition of India's classical age, few have had more impact than Dharmakåirti's Commentary on Valid Cognition (Pramåaònavåarttika). Composed in India in the seventh century, it became the cornerstone for the study of logic and epistemology in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. This work translated here is by one of the premier scholars of the Sakya school, Gorampa Sèonam Sengâe (1429-89). It illuminates the first two chapters of Dharmakåirti's work, those on using inference to enlighten oneself (svåarthåanumåana) and on establishing valid cognition (pramåaònasiddhi) both to determine the authority of the Buddha as a valid teacher and to eliminate the cognitive obstacles to awakening. The root text is composed in compact verses, and these are translated here along with Gorampa's word-by-word commentary that reveals their often veiled meanings. These chapters explore key issues in the philosophy of language and the nature of conventional designation, the way to employ sound reasoning, the proof of past and future lives, and the way to eliminate the view of self. In the skilled hands of translator Gavin Kilty, these insights are made accessible"--