Buddhist Philosophy as Spiritual Exercise

Fyodor Stherbatsky published his magnum opus, Buddhist Logic, one of

the most fundamental books on Buddhist philosophy in 1930. This book
engages with the Buddhist teachings and texts from the perspective of
philosophy as understood in the modern West, and continues to be
influential in Buddhist studies even today. According to Stherbatsky, the
Buddhist philosophical texts, known as the pramanasastras, were distinct
from other forms of religious and spiritual practices, such as meditative
exercises and rituals, that are aimed at moral formation of persons.
Pramana texts, that were based on the exercise of rationality and
intellectual arguments, Stcherbatsky argues, were primarily used in
debates. Many scholars in Buddhist studies continues to hold this view
even today. However, few Buddhist studies scholars have recently argued
that use of pramana, rational argument and reasoning, characteristic of
analytical philosophy, is also a form of spiritual exercise that plays a
significant role in the formation of moral persons. In fact, the use of
pramanas in Buddhist texts, quite analogous to the Stoic and Hellenistic
philosophy, was not

What is Spiritual Exercise? what is its origin? who coined the term? Why
is it relevant? How is it different from moral exercise? How does Hadot
define the term?
The term spiritual exercise originates in Christianity, more specifically
the meditative reflections and prayers of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Pierre
Hadot, an historian of Western Philosophy, uses this term to refer to the
Greek and Roman philosophers.
What inspired Hadot?
Who are some of the important writers in Buddhism using this concept?
How did they make use of the idea of spiritual exercise in relation to
Buddhism.
Sara McClintock
- Use of reason in relation to the omniscience of the Buddha
- Santarakshita and Kamalashila
Matthew Kapstein
James Apple