How do we come to know anything, by the lights of early Buddhist dharma? We will look at this key philosophical problem, illuminated by words from one key sutta, and a more recent, deep work of 20th century commentarial analysis.

📙 Check out my new book, A Handbook of Early Buddhist Wisdom, with a Foreword by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi: https://books2read.com/buddhisthandbook

🧡 If you find this material useful, check out my Patreon page and get fun benefits like exclusive videos, audio-only versions, and extensive show notes:   / dougsseculardharma  

🧡 You can also make donations through: https://paypal.me/dougsdharma

☸️ Free mini-course at the Online Dharma Institute: onlinedharma.org.

🎙Check out my podcast with Jon Aaron, Diggin' the Dharma: https://digginthedharma.com/

✅ Book:
KN Jayatilleke, Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge — https://amzn.to/3tdG2cq

✅ Videos mentioned:
Spiritual Humility in Early Buddhism: Lessons from the Cankī Sutta —    • Spiritual Humility in Early Buddhism:...  
Humility and Skepticism in Buddhist Practice: Problems with the Cankī Sutta —    • Humility and Skepticism in Buddhist P...  
Who Was Sariputta/Śariputra? (Life of the Buddha's Chief Disciple) —    • Who Was Sariputta/Śariputra? (Life of...  

✅ Suttas mentioned:
The Kālāmas: https://suttacentral.net/an3.65/en/su...
https://suttacentral.net/mn95/en/sujato
https://suttacentral.net/an4.193/en/s...
https://suttacentral.net/mn76/en/sujato
https://suttacentral.net/mn12/en/sujato
https://suttacentral.net/mn26/en/sujato
https://suttacentral.net/dn1/en/sujato
https://suttacentral.net/mn56/en/sujato

Webpage: https://www.dougsdharma.com/
Facebook:   / onlinedharmainstitute  
Mastodon: https://mindly.social/@dougsdharma
Twitter:   / dougsdharma  

❤️ Thanks to Patreon Patrons:
Anonymous (3)
John Oborne
DunJing
Jimmy Maa
Debbie Mattison Fine Art
Steve H.
Ron Peat
Matthew Smith
Shantha Wengappuli
Karma_CAC
Jorge Seguel
Christopher Apostolof
GailJM
Brett Merritt
David Bell
T Pham
VCR
Upayadhi
Andi and Erik
ATGuerrero686
Michael Scherrer
khobe schofield
Alex Perdomo
Benji Forsyth
Blaze Way
Sonny Flink
Steve Marlor
Joy L Lee
Andrew Tom
Anthony Tucker
Karlee R
Ethan M
Billy in Singapore
Olivia Otter
Carl Lennartson
xiao mao
Jeff Harvey
Andrew Ingrouille
Kenneth Grandchamp
Doug Fonner
Rene Gariepy
Russell Needham
Smoggyrob
Mac Roja
Bernardo
Clémence Ortega Douville
Kwan Alex
Scott Johnston
Richard J Beninger
Nathanael O. Arnquist
SaturnianMandala
Trin P
Letesa Isler
Dorien Izel
Robert Paterson
Jake Tobiason
Louvenia Ortega
Steve S.
Richard Rappuhn
Sarah Kress
John Aaron
Paul Niklewski
Kong Ing Kai
Dave Gorman
rhys reed
Osanda Wijeratne
Billy
Scarlett Farrow

00:00 Intro
01:54 Jayatilleke’s book and the Kālāmas
05:18 Two illegitimate sources of knowledge
06:31 Problems with authority
08:24 Problems with reason and logic
11:46 The Buddha’s positive epistemology
13:36 The Buddha’s distinctive empiricism

Note: as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Amazon links are affiliate links where I will earn a very small commission on purchases you make, at no additional cost to you. This goes a tiny way towards defraying the costs of making these videos. Thank you!