Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Vol. 2: The Mind

Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Vol. 2: The Mind

Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Vol. 2: The Mind

Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Vol. 2: The Mind

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Overview

The second volume in a prominent new series on Buddhism and science, directed by the Dalai Lama and previously covered by the BBC.

Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics compiles classical Buddhist explorations of the nature of our material world, the human mind, logic, and phenomenology and puts them into context for the modern reader.

This ambitious four-volume series—a major resource for the history of ideas and especially the history of science and philosophy—has been conceived by and compiled under the visionary supervision of His Holiness the Dalai Lama himself. It is his view that the exploratory thinking of great Indian masters in the first millennium CE still has much that is of interest to us today, whether we are Buddhist or not. These volumes make those insights accessible.

This, the second volume in the series, focuses on the science of the mind. Readers are first introduced to Buddhist conceptions of mind and consciousness and then led through traditional presentations of mental phenomena to reveal a Buddhist vision of the inner world with fascinating implications for the contemporary disciplines of cognitive science, psychology, emotion research, and philosophy of mind. Major topics include:

-The distinction between sensory and conceptual processes and the pan-Indian notion of mental consciousness

-Mental factors—specific mental states such as attention, mindfulness, and compassion—and how they relate to one another

-The unique tantric theory of subtle levels of consciousness, their connection to the subtle energies, or “winds,” that flow through channels in the human body, and what happens to each when the body and mind dissolve at the time of death

-The seven types of mental states and how they impact the process of perception

-Styles of reasoning, which Buddhists understand as a valid avenue for acquiring sound knowledge

In the final section, the volume offers what might be called Buddhist contemplative science, a presentation of the classical Buddhist understanding of the psychology behind meditation and other forms of mental training.

To present these specific ideas and their rationale, the volume weaves together passages from the works of great Buddhist thinkers like Asanga, Vasubandhu, Nagarjuna, Dignaga, and Dharmakirti. His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s introduction outlines scientific and philosophical thinking in the history of the Buddhist tradition. To provide additional context for Western readers, each of the six major topics is introduced with an essay by John D. Dunne, distinguished professor of Buddhist philosophy and contemplative practice at the University of Wisconsin. These essays connect the traditional material to contemporary debates and Western parallels, and provide helpful suggestions for further reading.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781614294740
Publisher: Wisdom Publications MA
Publication date: 11/10/2020
Series: Science and Philosophy in the Indian Bud , #2
Pages: 576
Sales rank: 665,178
Product dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, and a beacon of inspiration for Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. He has persistently reached out across religious and political lines and has engaged in dialogue with scientists in his mission to advance peace and understanding in the world. In doing so, he embodies his motto: “My religion is kindness.”



His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, and a beacon of inspiration for Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. He has persistently reached out across religious and political lines and has engaged in dialogue with scientists in his mission to advance peace and understanding in the world. In doing so, he embodies his motto: “My religion is kindness.”



Thupten Jinpa was educated in the classical Tibetan monastic academia and received the highest academic degree of geshe lharam (equivalent to a doctorate in divinity). Jinpa also holds a BA in philosophy and a PhD in religious studies, both from the University of Cambridge, England. Since 1985 he has been the principal translator to the Dalai Lama, accompanying him to the United States, Canada, and Europe. He has translated and edited many books by the Dalai Lama, including The World of Tibetan Buddhism, Essence of the Heart Sutra, and the New York Times bestseller Ethics for the New Millennium.

Jinpa has published scholarly articles on various aspects of Tibetan culture, Buddhism, and philosophy, and books such as Songs of Spiritual Experience (co-authored) and Self, Reality and Reason in Tibetan Philosophy. He serves on the advisory board of numerous educational and cultural organizations in North America, Europe, and India. He is currently the president and the general series editor of the Institute of Tibetan Classics, a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to translating key Tibetan classics into contemporary languages. And he also currently chairs the Mind & Life Institute and Compassion Institute.

Dechen Rochard has a BA in philosophy from the University of London and a PhD in Buddhist philosophy from the University of Cambridge. She also completed the first ten years of the geshe degree program at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala, India, including the study of Madhyamaka. She is currently translating texts for The Gaden Phodrang Foundation and is a fellow of the Dalai Lama Centre for Compassion (Oxford) and an honorary fellow of the University of Bristol.

John D. Dunne serves on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he holds the Distinguished Chair in Contemplative Humanities at the Center for Healthy Minds. He is also chair of the Department of Asian Languages & Cultures. His work focuses on Buddhist philosophy and contemplative practice, especially in dialog with Cognitive Science and Psychology. His more than fifty publications appear in venues ranging across both the Humanities and the Sciences, including Foundations of Dharmakirti’s Philosophy (2004) and Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics: The Mind (2020). John Dunne speaks in both academic and public contexts, and he occasionally teaches for Buddhist communities. His broader engagements include being a Fellow of the Mind and Life Institute, where he was previously a member of the board of directors, and serving as an academic advisor to the Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Kathmandu, Nepal.

John D. Dunne serves on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he holds the Distinguished Chair in Contemplative Humanities at the Center for Healthy Minds. He is also chair of the Department of Asian Languages & Cultures. His work focuses on Buddhist philosophy and contemplative practice, especially in dialog with Cognitive Science and Psychology. His more than fifty publications appear in venues ranging across both the Humanities and the Sciences, including Foundations of Dharmakirti’s Philosophy (2004) and Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics: The Mind (2020). John Dunne speaks in both academic and public contexts, and he occasionally teaches for Buddhist communities. His broader engagements include being a Fellow of the Mind and Life Institute, where he was previously a member of the board of directors, and serving as an academic advisor to the Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Table of Contents

Preface vii

Introduction by His Holiness the Dalai Lama 1

Part 1 Mind 23

1 The Nature of Mind 39

2 Sense Consciousness 49

3 Conceptual and Nonconceptual 65

4 Valid and Mistaken 75

Part 2 Mental Factors 83

5 Distinguishing Mind and Mental Factors 97

6 Omnipresent Mental Factors 107

7 Mental Factors with a Determinate Object 111

8 Virtuous Mental Factors 119

9 Love and Compassion 125

10 Mental Afflictions 139

11 Variable Mental Factors 157

12 Mental Factors in Other Works 161

13 Substantial and Imputed Mental Factors 175

14 Alternate Presentations of Mental Factors 181

Part 3 Gross and Subtle Minds 199

15 Gross and Subtle Minds in the Shared Traditions 207

16 Gross and Subtle Minds in Highest Yoga Tantra 213

Part 4 Mind and its Objects 233

17 How the Mind Engages Its Objects 247

18 The Sevenfold Typology of Cognition 263

Part 5 Inferential Reasoning 279

19 Reasoning and Rationality 293

20 Categories of Correct Evidence 319

21 Fallacious Inferential Evidence 337

12 Dignaga's Drum of a Wheel of Reasons 343

Part 6 Training the Mind through Meditation 351

23 How the Mind Is Trained 367

24 Calm Abiding 393

25 Analysis and Insight 423

26 Mindfulness Meditation 431

27 The Eight Worldly Concerns 445

28 Increasing Good Qualities 455

29 Concluding Topic: The Person or Self 461

Notes 467

Glossary 493

Bibliography 507

Index 517

About the Authors 553

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