Freedom through Correct Knowing: On Khedrup Jé's Interpretation of Dharmakirti

Discover a clear and accessible translation with commentary on key parts of Khedrup Jé's Clearing Mental Darkness. Composed at the request of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, this translation with commentary on key parts of Khedrup Jé's Clearing Mental Darkness: An Ornament of Dharmakirti's "Seven Treatises on Valid Cognition" is intended for all levels of understanding. You'll learn how a mind realizes its object, which types of consciousness realize their objects, and when a consciousness is considered to be valid in the sense of realizing its object. Having explained valid cognizers, or direct perceivers, which are essential to understanding the four noble truths, Khedrup Jé goes on to brilliantly elucidate this essential teaching of the Buddha and offers a lucid presentation of how to progress on the spiritual paths of liberation and enlightenment, including how to generate yogic perception directly realizing selflessness. With this, one develops an unmistaken realization of the fundamental reality of selflessness of persons and phenomena, which eliminates ignorance, the root cause of all mental afflictions and samsaric suffering.

Review :
"Serious students of Buddhist philosophy will delight in this translation of Khedrup Je's text on valid cognition, carefully and generously supplemented by commentary that draws on other classic Tibetan treatises. The chapter on the four truths is the crowning jewel, providing an elaborate account of how we enter into and free ourselves from cycling in samsara. The six appendices kindly offer a complementary map of important topics touched on but not explained in the root text. This is a beautiful handbook for those desiring a detailed map of the path to awakening and the role different types of mind play in this."--Bhik?u?i Thubten Chodron, abbess of Sravasti Abbey and author of Buddhism for Beginners "This wonderful book introduces the English-speaking public to the very rich Tibetan monastic philosophical tradition. The introduction by Geshe Namdak and the translation with commentary are not by a Western academic scholar but by the Sera Jey monks themselves. There, the reader will find a good reflection of the depth of their tradition. A great work for anybody interested in a deeper immersion in Buddhist philosophy."--Georges Dreyfus, Jackson Professor of Religion, Williams College "Freedom through Correct Knowing presents the core part of Khedrup Jé's Clearing Mental Darkness, which is famed for its clear and comprehensive analysis of key issues of importance for Buddhist epistemology. Through this book the reader can join Khedrup Jé's brilliant mind as he engages with important questions of logic and epistemology via a dialogical format that powerfully guides the reader."--Thupten Jinpa, founder, Institute of Tibetan Classics; founder, Compassion Institute; translator of major Tibetan works in The Library of Tibetan Classics and author of Tsongkhapa: A Buddha in the Land of Snows "In accordance with the extensive deeds and esteemed wishes of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Sera Jey Translation Department has taken great care to translate this text on valid cognition with the aim of bringing about vast benefit to all both now and in the long term. I congratulate them. The ability to easily induce consciousnesses ascertaining emptiness and all the other points of inner science belonging to sutra and tantra depends on the path of the science of valid cognition or reasoning. Having read this translation and commentary on Khedrup Jé's Clearing Mental Darkness, those who understand the meaning should familiarize their minds with and meditate on it again and again, thereby making meaningful their lives that are endowed with leisure and opportunity."--The 104th Gaden Tripa Kyabjé Jetsun Lobsang Tenzin Palsangpo "In the present so-called post-truth era, where misinformation abounds, it is crucial to be able to differentiate between fact and fiction and between valid and invalid ways of knowing something. Freedom through Correct Knowing provides the Buddhist analytical tools needed for this task, as interpreted by two of the greatest Tibetan Gelugpa scholars, Khedrup Jé and his commentator Purbu Chok. To open up the meaning of the technical language of the text, the editors have interspersed clear explanations and have added generous appendices with background material. The translators and editors are to be congratulated on this beautifully written, welcome contribution to our understanding of how the mind works."--Dr. Alexander Berzin, founder, studybuddhism.com, a project of the Berzin Archives "The skill with which Mahayana practitioners exercise vigilance over their superimposing false knowledge upon the world derives from their study of prama¯n?a theory. Here we have a penetrating digest of the central aspects of these classical investigations into knowing. Correct Knowing is eloquent both by the standards of traditional Tibetan inquiry and by maintaining a flowing, clear, contemporary English prose that renders this journey through Buddhist epistemology accessible to the reader."--Kenneth Liberman, professor emeritus, University of Oregon