Theory, Practice, and Ultimate Reality in the Thought of Mipham Rinpoche

Theory, Practice, and Ultimate Reality in the Thought of Mipham Rinpoche

Dissertation

Dissertation

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Abstract

This thesis explores the thought of one of Tibet's preeminent scholars, 'Jam mgon 'Ju Mi pham rnam rgyal (1846-1912), focusing on one of his most important texts, the Precious Lamp of Certainty. The critical philosophical traditions of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist scholasticism inculcate a developmental or gradualist interpretation of the path towards enlightenment based on philosophical study and critical reasoning. The Precious Lamp of Certainty uses critical philosophical methods to establish the viability of the Great Perfection (rdzogs chen), a philosophical and meditative oriented towards subitism or sudden enlightenment.

Citation	Pettit, John W. "Theory, Practice, and Ultimate Reality in the Thought of Mipham Rinpoche." PhD diss., Columbia University, 1998.

ContentsSources

• Table of Contentsi
• List of Diagrams and Tablesv
• Acknowledgementsvi
• Source Abbreviationsxii
• Annotations, Diacritics and Transcriptionxiv
• 1. Introduction1
  • 1.1 Mipham Rinpoche and the Precious Lamp of Certainty1
  • 1.2 Outline4
  • 1.3 The Precious Lamp of Certainty: Context and Significance5
    • 1.3.1 Dialectical Philosophy and the Great Perfection5
    • 1.3.2 The Lamp's Purpose9
    • 1.3.3 The Lamp's Comparative Method11
  • 1.4 Methods and Sources12
    • 1.4.1 Tibetan Language Sources15
    • 1.4.2 English Language Sources19
    • 1.4.3 Digital Sources: ACIP24
  • 1.5 The Contributions of this Work25
• 2. The Life and Works of Mipham Rinpoche32
  • 2.1 Accounts of Mipham's life39
  • 2.2 The Essential Hagiography by mKhan chen Kun bzang dpal ldan42
• 3. Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: An Overview65
  • 3.1 Historical and Philosophical Dimensions of Buddhism65
  • 3.2 Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna66
  • 3.3 Important Teachings of Mahāyāna Scriptures73
    • 3.3.1 Prajñāpāramitā73
    • 3.3.2 The Saṃdhinirmocana and the "Essence Sūtras"75
    • 3.3.3 Sources for Buddhist Hermeneutics80
  • 3 .4 Traditions of Indian Madhyamaka84
    • 3.4.1 Origins of Prāsaṅgika and Svātantrika Madhyamaka84
    • 3.4.2 Yogācāra and the Yogācāra-Madhyamaka synthesis90
    • 3.4.3 Madhyamaka and Pramāṇa95
  • 3.5 Vajrayāna: Buddhist Tantra101
    • 3.5.1 Indian Origins101
    • 3.5.2 Philosophical Dimensions of Tantra104
    • 3.5.3 Styles of Tantric Practice115
• 4. Tibetan Buddhist Traditions and the Great Perfection119
  • 4.1 The Yarlung Empire and the Introduction of Buddhism120
  • 4.2 Early Nyingma Teachers and Texts126
    • 4.2.1 The Treasure Tradition129
    • 4.2.2 The Great Perfection133
      • 4.2.2.1 Origins133
      • 4.2.2.2 The View of the Great Perfection134
      • 4.2.2.3 The Three Classes of Great Perfection137
      • 4.2.2.4 Great Perfection in Practice139
    • 4.2.3 The Great Perfection in Comparative Philosophical Texts142
      • 4.2.3.1 Ch'an and the Great Perfection in the bSam gtan mig sgron143
      • 4.2.3.2 Other Early Doxographies147
  • 4.3 The New Translation Period and the Nyingma Tradition152
    • 4.3.1 Rong zom Paṇḍita156
    • 4.3.2 The Rise of Scholasticism162
    • 4.3.3 Klong chen rab 'byams165
    • 4.3.4 Nyingma Monasticism and the Ecumenical Movement174
    • 4.3.5 A Nyingma Philosophy?178
• 5. Philosophical Distinctions of Mipham's Thought182
  • 5.1 The Gelug Philosophical Tradition183
  • 5.2 Theory, Practice and Ultimate Reality188
  • 5.3 Valid Cognition and Philosophical Analysis195
  • 5 .4 The Philosophy of Extrinsic Emptiness204
  • 5.5 Mipham's Interpretation of Extrinsic Emptiness211
  • 5.6 Mipham's Position on the Tathāgatagarbha220
• 6. The Precious Lamp of Certainty229
  • 6.1 Recapitulation of Earlier Discussions229
  • 6.2 The Topics of the Lamp231
    • 6.2.1 The Lamp and Tsong Khapa's Eight Great Difficult Points235
    • 6.2.2 Some Observations on Topics Five, Six and Seven241
  • 6.3 View, Meditative Practice and Ultimate Reality in the Lamp245
    • 6.3.1 Anupakṣas and Pūrvapakṣas: An Overview246
      • 6.3.1.1 Essential Issues and Arguments in Topics One, Three and
        Four248
      • 6.3.1.2 Go ram pa's Analysis of View and Meditation in the TSB251
        • 6.3.1.2.1 Go ram pa on the Ultimate View253
        • 6.3.1.2.2 Go ram pa on Meditative Practice259
    • 6.3.2 Topic One: Philosophical View and Rational Negation262
      • 6.3.2.1 Tsong Khapa on the Negandum and its Substratum262
      • 6.3.2.2 Mipham's Theory of Negation267
        • 6.3.2.2.1 Negation and the Definition of the Ultimate267
        • 6.3.2.2.2 Mipham's Analysis of Negation in the MAZL272
        • 6.3.2.2.3 Mipham's Theory of the Ultimate: Gnosis and
          Coalescence280
    • 6.3.3 Topics Three and Four: Tsong Khapa and Mipham on Modal Apprehension and Analytical Reasoning289
      • 6.3.3.1 Tsong Khapa on the Role of Conceptuality in Meditation289
      • 6.3.3.1.1 Yon tan rgya mtsho on Modal Apprehension and
        Analysis294
• 7. Ascertainment (nges pa) and Certainty (nges shes): Some Conclusions305
  • 7.1 Mipham's Place in Tibetan Philosophy327
• 8. The Translation of the Precious Lamp of Certainty338
  • 8.1 Method and Style338
  • 8.2 Technical terms340
    • 8.2.1 Proper Names347
    • 8.2.2 On the Use and Disuse of Sanskrit Terms348
    • 8.2.3 Outline of the Lamp and Khro shul 'jam rdor's Commentary348
    • Abbreviations and Bibliography349
  • 8.3 Translation of The Precious Lamp of Certainty350
    • [Introduction]350
    • [Topic One]352
    • [Topic Three]356
    • [Topic Four]360
    • [Topic Five]367
    • [Topic Six]372
    • [Topic Seven]380
    • [Conclusion]391
• 9. A Critical Edition of the Precious Lamp of Certainty395
  • • 9.1.1 Editions Consulted395
    • 9.1.2 Abbreviations and Bibliography398
  • 9.2 A Critical Edition of the Precious Lamp of Certainty400
    • [Introduction]400
    • [Topic One]403
    • [Topic Two]407
    • [Topic Three]412
    • [Topic Four]418
    • [Topic Five]427
    • [Topic Six]434
    • [Topic Seven]444
    • [Conclusion]458
• 10. Stainless Light: A Commentary on the Precious Lamp of Certainty462
  • • [Topic One]472
    • [Topic Three]494
    • [Topic Four]509
    • [Topic Five]532
    • [Topic Six]548
    • [Topic Seven]576
    • [Conclusion]608
• 11. The Lion's Roar of the View of Extrinsic Emptiness616
• 12. Glossary of Technical Terms in Sanskrit, Tibetan and English627
• 13. Works Consulted645
• 14. Appendix: Explanatory Diagrams and Tables667
• 15. Notes to Tables674

• mi pham rgya mtsho. "nges shes rin po che'i sgron me." In gsung 'bum/_mi pham rgya mtsho. TBRC W23468. 9: 73 - 126. paro, bhutan: lama ngodrup and sherab drimey, 1984-1993.

Hīnayāna - The mainstream teachings and the early schools of Buddhism which primarily taught individual liberation through practice-focused renunciation and monasticism, considered lesser than the later movement of the Greater Vehicle (Mahāyāna), which professed enlightenment for all sentient beings and promoted compassion. Skt. हीनयान Tib. ཐེག་དམན། Ch. 小乘

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Mahāyāna - Mahāyāna, or the Great Vehicle, refers to the system of Buddhist thought and practice which developed around the beginning of Common Era, focusing on the pursuit of the state of full enlightenment of the Buddha through the realization of the wisdom of emptiness and the cultivation of compassion. Skt. महायान Tib. ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ། Ch. 大乘

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Prajñāpāramitā - A class of Mahāyāna sūtras which represents some of the earliest known literature of this genre of Buddhism. There are around forty texts associated with this category, though the most widespread is the exceedingly brief Prajñāpāramitāhṛdayasūtra, popularly known as the Heart Sūtra. This class of literature is typically associated with the second turning of the dharma wheel and especially with the teachings on emptiness (śūnyatā). As such, these texts were the primary scriptural source for the philosophy of the Madhyamaka school. Skt. प्रज्ञापारमिता Tib. ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ་,ཤེར་ཕྱིན་ Ch. 般若波羅蜜多

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Madhyamaka - Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. Skt. मध्यमक Tib. དབུ་མ་ Ch. 中觀見

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Yogācāra - Along with Madhyamaka, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu around the fourth century CE, many of its central tenets have roots in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the so-called third turning of the dharma wheel (see tridharmacakrapravartana). Skt. योगाचार Tib. རྣལ་འབྱོར་སྤྱོད་པ་ Ch. 瑜伽行派

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pramāṇa - In the Buddhist literature on pramāṇa, it refers to cognition that correctly apprehends its object without any deception or mistake. Such correct cognition include direct perception and inferential cognition. Skt. प्रमान Tib. ཚད་མ། Ch. 量

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Vajrayāna - The esoteric Buddhist tradition which developed as a syncretic system involving deity worship, use of mantras, physical energy, and mystical practices. It is also known as the mantra tradition and the tantric school as a result of being based on texts known as tantras. Skt. वज्रयान Tib. རྡོ་རྗེ་ཐེག་པ། Ch. 金剛乘

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tantra - Tantra, when juxtaposed with Sūtra, generally refers to the scriptures and texts which discuss esoteric topics. While the term is used to refer to texts on other topics, it is mostly used to refer to the genre of scriptures and texts on themes and topics associated with Vajrayāna Buddhism. Skt. तन्त्र Tib. རྒྱུད། Ch. 密宗

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Nyingma - The Nyingma, which is often described as the oldest tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, traces its origin to Padmasambhava, who is said to have visited Tibet in the eighth century. Tib. རྙིང་མ་

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Geluk - The Geluk tradition traces its origin to Tsongkhapa, who propagated a modified version of the Kadampa lojong and lamrim teachings. It is the dominant tradition of Tibet, having established its control of the government under the figure of the Dalai Lama. Tib. དགེ་ལུགས་

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tathāgatagarbha - Buddha-nature, literally the "womb/essence of those who have gone (to suchness)." Skt. तथागतगर्भ Tib. དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་སྙིང་པོ་ Ch. 如来藏

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prajñā - One of the key terms for wisdom or knowledge, most often having the sense of insight, transcendent knowledge, or perhaps gnosis. In some contexts it can also refer to cognition or intellectual understanding. Skt. प्रज्ञा Tib. ཤེས་རབ་ Ch. 般若

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