Dr. Cristina Pecchia (University of Vienna & Austrian Academy of Sciences)The Buddha’s AuthorityOmniscience as a Problem in Dharmakīrti’s Philosophy

22 November 2023

16:00, 22 November 2023. ESA-Ost, Raum 120 & Zoom

How do we know that the Buddha’s teachings are reliable? This question, which has been significant from the beginning of the history of the Buddhist dharma, has received different answers in the history of Buddhism in South Asia. The answer of the Nikāyas to this question predominantly points at “relying on the dharma and not the person” (Harrison 2003). However, relying on the dharma to some extent entails trusting the words of the Buddha. Especially in negotiating the competition with different opponents, early Buddhist literature points at special characteristics of the Buddha that make him authoritative with regard to the dharma. Omniscience is sometimes mentioned in this connection.

This paper examines how the Buddhist philosopher Dharmakīrti (6th–7th century) frames his discussion of omniscience in his larger discourse on the Buddha’s authoritativeness. His arguments develop in two opposite directions, namely from the authority of the person to that of the dharma and, in reverse, from the dharma to the person. While considering the Buddhist concerns of which the idea of an omniscient Buddha was part as well as the conceptual paradigms within which Dharmakīrti interpreted this idea, a view of omniscience is outlined that depends on fundamental features of the Buddhist doctrine as well as the larger religious and philosophical terrain in which it develops.

The lecture will be held at ESA-Ost, Raum 120, Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1, 20146 Hamburg, and via Zoom. For those who wish to participate via Zoom and are not students/members of Universität Hamburg, please write a short email to Prof. Dr. Wangchuk one day before the event: dorji.wangchuk@uni-hamburg.de.

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Prof. Dr. Dorji Wangchuk (Director)
Khyentse Center for Tibetan Buddhist Textual Scholarship (KC-TBTS)
Abteilung für Kultur und Geschichte Indiens und Tibets
Asien-Afrika-Institut
Universität Hamburg
Alsterterrasse 1
D-20354 Hamburg