The four-volume Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics Bundle 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 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 guidance 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. All the volumes in the series are available. We hope you enjoy this series as much as we do!

 

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INCLUDED TITLES

Vol. 1: The Physical World (552 pages)

The first volume in the bundle explores the nature of our material world—from the macroscopic to the microscopic. It begins with an overview of the many frameworks, such as the so-called five aggregates, that Buddhist thinkers have used to examine the nature and scope of reality. Topics include sources of knowledge, the scope of reason, the nature and constituents of the material world, theories of the atom, the nature of time, the formation of the universe, and the evolution of life, including a detailed explanation of the early Buddhist theories on fetal development. The volume even contains a brief presentation on early theories about the structure and function of the brain and the role of microorganisms inside the human body.

 

Vol. 2: The Mind (576 pages)

The second volume in the series focuses on the science of 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 [1] the distinction between sensory and conceptual processes and the pan-Indian notion of mental consciousness; [2] the nature of specific mental states such as attention, mindfulness, and compassion and how they relate to one another; [3] 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; [4] the seven types of mental states and how they impact the process of perception; and [5] styles of reasoning, which Buddhists understand as a valid avenue for acquiring sound knowledge. In the final section, the volume also sketches out 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.

 

 

Vol. 3: Philosophical Schools (536 pages)

As traditional works on Buddhist tenets have done, the third volume in the series focuses on exploring the four schools of Buddhist philosophy, using them to demonstrate the philosophical evolution within their own tradition, and within individual practitioners, as they progressed through increasingly more subtle expressions of the true reality.  The present work follows in this venerable tradition, but with a modern twist. Like its predecessors, it presents the views of seven non-Buddhist schools, those of the Samkhya, Vaisesika, Nyaya, Mimamsa, Vedanta, Jaina, and Lokayata, followed by the Buddhist Vaibhasika, Sautrantika, Cittamatra, and Madhyamaka schools, arranging them like steps on a ladder to the profound. But rather than following in the sharply polemical approach of its ancient predecessors, it strives to survey each tradition authentically, relying on and citing the texts sacred to each, allowing the different traditions to speak for themselves. What, it asks, are the basic components of the world we experience? What is the nature of their ultimate reality? And how can we come to experience that for ourselves? See how the rich spiritual traditions of India approached these key questions, where they agreed, and how they evolved through dialogue and debate.

 

 

Vol. 4: Philosophical Topics (640 pages)

This second philosophy (and fourth overall) volume in the Science and Philosophy series explores a number of important philosophical topics including the nature of the two truths, the analysis of self, the Yogacara explanation of reality, emptiness in the Madhyamaka tradition, a survey of logic and epistemology, and the Buddhist explanation of language and meaning. Like earlier volumes, this one provides, through extensive extracts, a window into the works of the masters of the Nalanda tradition. Largely crafted by Thupten Jinpa, the final section on language is a particularly unique presentation.

Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. He frequently describes himself as a simple Buddhist monk. Born in northeastern Tibet in 1935, he was as a toddler recognized as the incarnation of the Thirteenth Dalai Lama and brought to Tibet’s capital, Lhasa. He passed his scholastic examinations with honors before fleeing the Chinese forces to India in 1959. There he set up the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, working to secure the welfare of the more than 100,000 Tibetan exiles and prevent the destruction of Tibetan culture. In his capacity as a spiritual and political leader, he has traveled to more than sixty-two countries on six continents and met with presidents, popes, and leading scientists to foster dialogue and create a better world. As a superior scholar trained in the classical texts of the Nalanda tradition of Indian Buddhism, he is able to distill the central tenets of Buddhist philosophy in clear and inspiring language, his gift for pedagogy imbued with his infectious joy.

 

Thupten Jinpa is a well-known Buddhist scholar and has been the principal English-language translator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama for more than three decades. A former monk and a geshe lharampa (equivalent to a doctorate in divinity), he also holds a BA in philosophy and a PhD in religious studies, both from Cambridge University. He is the author and translator of many books and teaches at McGill University in Montreal.

 

Compendium Compilation Committee

Chair: Thamthog Rinpoche, Abbot of Namgyal Monastery

General Series Editor: Thupten Jinpa, PhD

Advisory Members:

Geshe Yangteng Rinpoche, Sermey Monastic College

Geshe Thupten Palsang, Drepung Loseling College

Gelong Thupten Yarphel, Namgyal Monastery

Editors

Geshe Jangchup Sangye, Ganden Shartse College

Geshe Ngawang Sangye, Drepung Loseling College

Geshe Chisa Drungchen Rinpoche, Ganden Jangtse College

Geshe Lobsang Khechok, Drepung Gomang College

 

Volume 1: The Physical World

Ian James Coghlan (Jampa Ignyen) trained as a monk at Jé College, Sera Monastic University, completing his studies in 1995, and holds a PhD in Asian studies from La Trobe University. He has translated and edited a number of works from Tibetan including Principles of Buddhist Tantra (with Kirti Tsenshap Rinpoché and Voula Zarpani); Hundreds of Deities of Tusita, An Offering Cloud of Nectar, and Stairway to the State of Union (with Choden Rinpoché and Voula Zarpani). Currently he is a translator for the Institute of Tibetan Classics and an adjunct research fellow at SOPHIS, Monash University.

Volume 2: The Mind

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. Other books by Dechen Rochard include Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Vol. 4.

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 Dharmakīrti’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.

Volume 3: Philosophical Schools

Don Lopez, Jr. is the Arthur E. Link Distinguished University Professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Michigan. He is the author and translator of numerous books, including Beautiful Adornment of Mount Meru, Opening the Eye of New Awareness, and In the Forest of Faded Wisdom: 104 Poems by Gendun Chopel (University of Chicago 2009).

Volume 4: Philosophical Topics

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. Other books by Dechen Rochard include Science and Philosophy in the Indian Buddhist Classics, Vol. 2.