Ways of Knowing

An overview of the different numbers of valid ways of knowing in Indian tenet systems.

An overview of the Sautrantika list of the seven ways of knowing, which include valid and non-valid ways of knowing.

An overview of the ways of knowing within the context and point of view of the different Indian Buddhist philosophical tenet systems.

Comparing non-Prasangika and Prasangika Indian logic for gaining valid inferential cognition of a conclusion about an object.

An explanation of the main features of the Bon tradition by the 34th Menri Trizin, the current spiritual leader of Bon.

Distorted cognition is a way of knowing that takes its own object in an inverted manner.

Examples illustrating the seven ways of knowing, and how to identify and apply them in our daily lives.

Understanding the difference between affirmation phenomena, which are known simply by affirming the presence or existence of something, and negation phenomena, known by negating the presence or existence of something, enables us to understand nonstaticness and voidness.

Conceptual cognition is a deceptive cognition, because it confuses a category and generic representation of a member of a category with a specific item. Western languages call such conceptual labeling “projection.”

With non-determining cognition, the involved object of the cognition appears clearly and accurately, but without a decisive determination of it.