Articles by alphabetic order
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 Ā Ī Ñ Ś Ū Ö Ō
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0


What is Truth, What is Reality? - The Logicians' Views

From Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
65.jpg
Imgees.jpg

 I thought I will start another thread to that of ‘I No Stupid’ ‘What is Truth, What is Reality?’ from the point of view of the Buddhist logicians.
 
What is Truth, What is Reality? - The Buddhist Logicians' Views.

The investigation into Buddhist epistemology starts with the statement that ‘All successful human action is necessarily preceded by right knowledge. Human aims are either positive or negative, either something desirable or something undesirable. Purposive action consists in attaining the desirable and avoiding the undesirable.

In the context of the Buddhist teaching, we may asked, is the Buddhist Dharma right knowledge? Do the actions we are taught to practice from these teachings such as the practice of purification of virtues, of concentration eventually lead us to attaining the desirable, i.e., the insight into the reality of the world and ultimate reality? If it does, than Wisdom, Bliss, Enlightenment, liberations taught by the Buddha are all Truths.

What is reality? The definition of Existence or Reality which are terms convertible and also means ultimate reality in Buddhist logic of Dignaga. To the Buddhist logician, Existence, real existence, ultimate existence is nothing but efficiency. Whatsoever is causally efficiency is real. What is non-efficient is unreal. Whatever that is of productive imagination or thought construction is fiction, it is not ultimate reality. A fire which burns and cooks is a real fire. Its presence is physically efficient. A fire which is absent, which is imagined, which neither burns or cooks is an unreal fire. Only the present, the here, now are real. Everything past, everything future is unreal. Ultimately real is only the present moment of physical efficiency. Beside the ultimate or direct reality there is also an indirect one, an inferred one. Such as when we see smoke, we can assume that there is a fire there as well. It is an imputed reality.

The above description is a description of Reality consisting of constructed images. It is a reality that is endowed with a position in time, space and with all the sensible and abstract quality. It is a conditioned, phenomenal or empirical reality. The empirical thing is a thing constructed by the synthesis of our productive imagination on the basis of a sensation.

There is also another reality termed Pure Reality in which there is not the slightest bit of imaginative construction. It is the reality of the bare point-instants which as yet no definite position in time, neither a position in space, nor have they any sensible qualities. It is Ultimate or Pure Reality. The ultimately real is that which strictly corresponds to pure sensation alone. We can only cognize the imagined superstructure of reality, but not reality itself. It has no extension in space and no duration in time, although it can be localized in time and space. However, this localization is already the work of the understanding which locates the object in a constructed space and in an imagined time.

Pure Reality is pure efficiency which stimulates the understanding and the reason to construct images and ideas. It is non-empirical, it is transcendental and unutterable. There is no other reality than this, as all other reality is borrowed from it. An object which is not connected with a sensation, with sensible reality, is either pure imagination, or a mere names or a metaphysical object. Reality is synonymous with sensible existence. It is opposed to Ideality, generality and thought construction.

 
Two truths doctrine: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Buddha's teaching of the Dharma is based on two truths: a truth of worldly convention and an ultimate truth. Those who do not understand the distinction drawn between these two truths do not understand the Buddha's profound truth. Without a foundation in the conventional truth the significance of the ultimate cannot be taught. Without understanding the significance of the ultimate, liberation is not achieved.

- Nagarjuna, Mūlamadhyamakakārika 24:8-10

Source

sgforums.com