ABSTRACT
Buddhist philosophers think that meditative cultivation makes a difference. Buddhists accept that, after a long time, repeated contemplation results in an experience of some idea or mental image that is vivid (spaṣṭa), effortlessly giving rise to certain practiced judgments and activities. However, this presents a problem for Buddhist epistemologists like Dharmakīrti (ca. 550–650), for it would seem that meditation results in a vivid experience regardless of whether its object is real or not. So, is there anything distinctive about the experience of a practitioner who has meditated on, for instance, the Truths taught by the Buddha? Dharmakīrti thinks that there is. In this chapter, it will be explored how he accounts for this difference, both epistemically and phenomenologically.
