Head Office: Università degli Studi di Padova Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology Ph.D. COURSE IN PHILOSOPHY SERIES XXX SELF-AWARENESS IN TIBETAN BUDDHISM A Study of the Philosophical Relevance of Rang rig and Its Contribution to the Contemporary Debates on the Nature of Consciousness Coordinator: Prof. Francesca Menegoni Supervisor: Prof. Giangiorgio Pasqualotto Ph.D. student: Chiara Mascarello Table of Contents Introductory Remarks .......................................................................................................................... 7 1. Reasons for Attempting a Philosophical Overview of Svasaṃvedana or Rang rig ..................... 7 2. Self-Awareness in a Broader Sense and Self-Awareness as Svasaṃvedana or Rang rig .......... 12 3. On Translating the Term Svasaṃvedana or Rang rig ................................................................ 17 4. Previous Studies on Svasaṃvedana or Rang rig ........................................................................ 20 5. Technical Note ........................................................................................................................... 24 PART ONE: INDIA ........................................................................................................................... 25 I. The Buddhist Historical and Doctrinal Background of Svasaṃvedana and its Pre-Dignāga Developments..................................................................................................................................... 27 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 27 2. Mahāsāṃghika............................................................................................................................ 29 3. Sarvāstivāda................................................................................................................................ 35 4. Sautrāntika .................................................................................................................................. 43 5. Yogācāra ..................................................................................................................................... 48 6. Concluding Remarks .................................................................................................................. 53 II. Dignāga and Later Developments ................................................................................................. 61 1. Dignāga on Svasaṃvedana: A Hotly Debated Issue .................................................................. 61 1.a Is Self-awareness Included in Mental Perception or is it a Separate Type of Perception? .. 62 1.b Self-awareness and the Two Forms of Cognition................................................................ 66 1.c Self-awareness as Pramāṇaphala ........................................................................................ 69 1.d Some Readings of Dignāga’s Svasaṃvedana ...................................................................... 75 2. Later Developments in the Issue of Svasaṃvedana ................................................................... 80 2.a Dharmakīrti and the Continuation of Dignāga’s Epistemological Project .......................... 80 2.b Candrakīrti and Śāntideva: A Sharp Criticism of Svasaṃvedana ....................................... 88 2.c Śāntarakṣita’s Contribution .................................................................................................. 91 PART TWO: TIBET .......................................................................................................................... 95 III. A Difficult Heritage: Reflectiveness and Reflexiveness in the Tibetan Assimilation of Svasaṃvedana .................................................................................................................................... 97 1. Reflectiveness and Reflexiveness: A Closer Look at Williams’ Contribution .......................... 97 1.a Reflective and Reflexive Self-awareness ........................................................................... 101 1.b A Critique of Williams’ Manifesto on the Two Models .................................................... 105 1.c Further Considerations on the Two Models ....................................................................... 111 2. Reflexivity and Luminosity of Mind: Photism in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism ............................. 115 2.a The Doctrinal Developments of the Notion of Mind’s Luminosity (prabhāsvaratā: ’od gsal ba) ............................................................................................................................................. 116 2.b The convergence of Gsal ba and ’Od gsal ba ................................................................... 123 IV. Tsong-kha-pa and Mi-pham: A Multidimensional Controversy ............................................... 127 1. Tsong-kha-pa and His Disciples: Negating Self-awareness Even Conventionally .................. 127 2. Mi-pham: Positing Reflexive Self-awareness Conventionally ................................................ 140 V. Rang rig and Soteriological Breakthrough ................................................................................. 147 1. Gnosis and Soteriology in the rNying-ma Tradition ................................................................ 147 2. Specificities of Rang rig in Contrast with Other Tantric and Māhāyanic Traditions .............. 153 3. How Rang rig Makes the (Soteriological) Difference ............................................................. 159 PART THREE: CONTEMPORARY DEVELOPMENTS.............................................................. 165 VI. Tibetan Buddhist Accounts in Dialogue with Contemporary Philosophy of Mind ................... 167 1. The Contemporary Context: The Hard Problem of Consciousness ......................................... 167 2. Reflectivity and Reflexivity Today: Challenges and Directions .............................................. 173 2.a The Ineffability of Subjective Experience ......................................................................... 175 2.b The Inner Structure of Self-awareness: Reflectivity, Intentionality, Temporality, and Spatiality ................................................................................................................................... 176 2.c Contemporary Philosophical and Scientific Challenges: Towards a Common Ground .... 187 Concluding Remarks ........................................................................................................................ 195 Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................... 199 Bibliography..................................................................................................................................... 199 Dictionaries .................................................................................................................................. 199 Indian Sources .............................................................................................................................. 200 Tibetan Sources ............................................................................................................................ 203 Secondary Sources ....................................................................................................................... 204 Abstract This research examines the concept of self-awareness (svasaṃvedana: rang rig) as it was developed in the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Self-cognition―that is, the mind’s knowing of itself―is a highly technical concept in Buddhist philosophy and, since it targets fundamental issues relating to the nature of consciousness, represents a crucial subject of debate among various scholars of the tradition. However, modern scholarship has not yet fully examined this field despite the most recent reflections upon self-awareness in the ongoing philosophical debates on subjective experience calling for a deeper study of the insights the Buddhist contemplative tradition might offer in helping to unravel the conundrum that the nature of consciousness presents. Dwelling upon the different understandings of the Buddhist notion of svasaṃvedana/rang rig, this dissertation mainly examines its Tibetan developments, in light of the Indian philosophical legacy, and the contribution they may offer to a universal discourse on self-awareness, mainly through dialogue with the potentials and tendencies of contemporary philosophy of mind. After a few introductory remarks, the first part of the research examines the Indian origins and main developments related to the concept of svasaṃvedana. I start by exploring the initial emergence of the idea of self-awareness in some pre-Dignāga Buddhist sources before taking a closer look at Dignāga’s epistemological formulation of the concept and, finally, considering the main post-Dignāga Indian developments. As such, the first part of the research is intended as an overview of the Indian Buddhist history of the idea of self-awareness that precedes its Tibetan assimilation, an important background that must be considered for a proper understanding of the Tibetan debates. The second part of the research focuses on the multidimensional relevance that the idea of rang rig acquires in the Tibetan