Paramartha

In Buddhist context, paramartha refers to "the absolute", as opposed to merely conventional, "truth or reality". Knowledge is considered as split into three levels: The first being the "illusory" (called "samvriti", "parikalpita" or "pratibhasika" according to different schools of thought), considered false compared to the "empirical" ("samvriti", "paratantra" or "vyavaharika"), in turn trumped by the "transcendental" ("paramartha" or "paramarthika"). "Compare: samvriti"

Paramārtha is also the name of a Chinese scholar of the 6th Century CE, best known for his Chinese translation of the Abhidharma-kosa.

Etymology:
*Sanskrit: "paramārtha"

External links

* [http://www.kheper.net/integral/Absolute_and_Relative.htm The Transcendent Absolute and Phenomena] , search for "Three Grades of Knowledge"