The Logic of Liberation: Epistemology as a Path to the Realization of Mahāmudrā

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The Logic of Liberation: Epistemology as a Path to the Realization of Mahāmudrā

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Citation:	Burchardi, Anne. "The Logic of Liberation: Epistemology as a Path to the Realization of Mahāmudrā." In The Illuminating Mirror: Tibetan Studies in Honour of Per K. Sørensen on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday, edited by Olaf Czaja and Guntram Hazon, 41-56. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 2015.

Abstract

No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:

Anne Burchardi[1]

The present article is a contribution to the discussion on the place of epistemology in Tibetan Buddhism in relation to the doctrine of Mahāmudrā, drawing on a selection of Tibetan sources from the 16th century as well as Bhutanese sources from the 19th century.

While Buddhist epistemology may seem dry and cerebral, it plays a special role as a gateway to Mahāmudrā according to certain masters associated with the gzhan stong philosophy.[2] For them, not only can direct valid cognition (mngon sum tshad ma) in general be linked to the non-conceptual states associated with Mahāmudrā meditation, but the basic epistemological definition of mind as luminous and cognisant (gsal zhing rig pa) is a precursor to the pointing-out instructions for recognising the nature of mind. According to some interpretations, it is the direct valid cognition of apperception[3] (rang rig mngon sum tshad mo), which experiences this true nature, and the direct yogic valid cognition (mal 'byor mngon sum tshad ma), which realises it. (Burchardi, preliminary remarks, 27)

Notes

1. An early version of this paper was presented at the 15th IABS Conference in Atlanta in 2008 as well as at the Seventh Nordic Tibet Research Conference in Helsinki, 2009. It appeared in the proceedings of the latter which were published as the Himalayan Discoveries in 2013. It appears here in an amended version with the kind permission of the editors. I would like to thank Lopon Norbu Gyaltsen for his explanations as well as Karl Brunnhölzl, Per Sørensen, Jan-Ulrich Sobisch, Julian Pollock and Yaroslav Komarovski for their comments and improvements to the previous version of this article. I would like to thank Olaf Czaja for his suggestions, which inspired a revision of the translations in the first half of the present version of the paper.
2. The connection between direct yogic valid cognition and Mahāmudrā most probably predates the inception of the gzhan stong movement in Tibet.
3. Often translated as reflexive awareness.

References

Mahāmudrā - Mahāmudrā refers to an advanced meditation tradition in Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna forms of Into-Tibetan Buddhism that is focused on the realization of the empty and luminous nature of the mind. It also refers to the resultant state of buddhahood attained through such meditation practice. In Tibet, this tradition is particularly associated with the Kagyu school, although all other schools also profess this tradition. The term also appears as part of the four seals, alongside dharmamūdra, samayamudrā, and karmamudrā. Skt. महामुद्रा Tib. ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ།

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gzhan stong - The state of being devoid of that which is wholly different rather than being void of its own nature. The term is generally used to refer to the ultimate, or buddha-nature, being empty of other phenomena such as adventitious defiling emotions but not empty of its true nature. Tib. གཞན་སྟོང་

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pramāṇa - In the Buddhist literature on pramāṇa, it refers to cognition that correctly apprehends its object without any deception or mistake. Such correct cognition include direct perception and inferential cognition. Skt. प्रमाण Tib. ཚད་མ། Ch. 量

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pramāṇa - In the Buddhist literature on pramāṇa, it refers to cognition that correctly apprehends its object without any deception or mistake. Such correct cognition include direct perception and inferential cognition. Skt. प्रमाण Tib. ཚད་མ། Ch. 量

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prabhāsvaratā - In a general sense, that which clears away darkness, though it often appears in Buddhist literature in reference to the mind or its nature. It is a particularly salient feature of Tantric literature, especially in regard to the advanced meditation techniques of the completion-stage yogas. Skt. प्रभास्वरता Tib. འོད་གསལ་ Ch. 光明

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sems nyid - Commonly found in Dzogchen and Mahāmudrā literature, this term denotes the true, natural state of mind as it is. Often used in these traditions as a synonym for buddha-nature. Skt. चित्तत्व Tib. སེམས་ཉིད་

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svasaṃvedana - An important term for the Yogācāra that refers to a consciousness of consciousness itself, or how one knows that they know something. It was a hotly debated topic that was disputed by followers of the Madhyamaka. In Tibet it would later become a common Dzogchen term, though with the entirely different meaning of one's own innate awareness (rig pa), a crucial concept in the Dzogchen teachings. Skt. स्वसंवेदन Tib. རང་རིག་ Ch. 自證分

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svasaṃvedana - An important term for the Yogācāra that refers to a consciousness of consciousness itself, or how one knows that they know something. It was a hotly debated topic that was disputed by followers of the Madhyamaka. In Tibet it would later become a common Dzogchen term, though with the entirely different meaning of one's own innate awareness (rig pa), a crucial concept in the Dzogchen teachings. Skt. स्वसंवेदन Tib. རང་རིག་ Ch. 自證分

Go to the page with the definition of 'reflexive awareness'