This article considers various issues in Candrakīrti’s theory of two truths which have not been addressed or dealt with in detail by scholars. These include the following: 1. In Candrakīrti’s theory of the two truths, for those who have entered stages of holiness besides the Buddha, what is the relationship between the object of knowledge and the two truths (especially with reference to paramārthasatya and saṃv?timātra)? 2. Are the two truths contradictory or complementary? 3. For Candrakīrti, what is the relationship between conventional truth and self-nature? Part I, the present article, focuses on the first of these issues. After comparing and examining relevant works by Candrakīrti, we find that although Candrakīrti does not explicitly discuss the issue of holy persons other than the Buddha seeing the ultimate truth, he does allow that they have perceptions relating to both ultimate and conventional truths at the same time. Although there remain many ambiguities, Candrakīrti’s conceptualizations are more or less consistent with the Yogācāra concepts of mūlajñāna and p???halabdhajñāna.
