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<p><?sps A3B2 twb=".25w?"?>What is the role of mental construction (<i>vikalpa</i>) in a buddha’s awakening? The <i>Tattvasiddhi</i>, a Sanskrit Buddhist tantric work from the 9th century, answers that it is essential. A buddha’s omniscience itself, the work argues, is <i>savikalpaka</i>: it essentially involves mental construction. This is a surprising response given what we’re taught to expect from Buddhist sources about the non-conceptual nature of awakening. In this paper, I make sense of this response as part of a larger movement among post-Dharmakīrtian philosophers to understand the ways perception and perceptual vividness are conditioned by habit. In doing so, I show that the <i>Tattvasiddhi</i> is an especially clear case of a <i>reconditioning</i> model of the path, and I juxtapose this with <i>deconditioning</i> models found in both tantric and non-tantric sources.</p>

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Vividness, Habit, and the Objects of a Buddha’s Action: Omniscience in the Tattvasiddhi and Its Dharmakīrtian Context

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月11日

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  • Davey K. Tomlinson

摘要

What is the role of mental construction (vikalpa) in a buddha’s awakening? The Tattvasiddhi, a Sanskrit Buddhist tantric work from the 9th century, answers that it is essential. A buddha’s omniscience itself, the work argues, is savikalpaka: it essentially involves mental construction. This is a surprising response given what we’re taught to expect from Buddhist sources about the non-conceptual nature of awakening. In this paper, I make sense of this response as part of a larger movement among post-Dharmakīrtian philosophers to understand the ways perception and perceptual vividness are conditioned by habit. In doing so, I show that the Tattvasiddhi is an especially clear case of a reconditioning model of the path, and I juxtapose this with deconditioning models found in both tantric and non-tantric sources.