Rgyal tshab rje dar ma rin chen

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རྒྱལ་ཚབ་རྗེ་དར་མ་རིན་ཆེན་
Gyaltsap Je Dharma Rinchen(1364 - 1432) 

Gyaltsap Je Darma Rinchen was one of the chief disciples of Tsongkhapa. He was a prolific writer, composing on Madhyamaka and tantric topics, most famously a commentary on the Bodhicaryāvatāra. He served as the second abbot of Ganden Monastery, following the death of Tsongkhapa in 1419, and occupied the position, known as the Ganden Tripa, until the year before his own death.

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"Gyeltsap thus shows that ultimately both buddhas and sentient beings share the same suchness of mind which is the ultimate nature of mind that is free from natural defilements. Because of this he argues that all sentient beings have tathāgata-essence, and it is through this that he establishes the connection between tathāgata-essence and the concept of one-vehicle, the notion that ultimately there is only the final goal of buddhahood."
Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 99.

"So, Gyeltsap claims that both the Madhyamakāvatāra and the Uttaratantra explain the same meaning of ultimate truth. Hence, they are both definitive works that explicate the intention of the middle wheel." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 107.

  • "In his Uttaratantra commentary, Gyeltsap shows the strong influence of Tsongkhapa's Illuminating the Thoughts of the Madhyamaka. He criticizes those who propose that the Uttaratantra is a Cittamātra text, arguing that it explicates the ultimate truth presented in the Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 98.
  • "Gyeltsap says, "It is not to be asserted that Ācārya Asaṅga is described as a proponent of Vijñāptimātratā; otherwise it would completely contradict his detailed explanation of the one final vehicle and the presentation of subtle emptiness in his Uttaratantra commentary." Gyeltsap argues that the emptiness explained in the Uttaratantra and its commentary by Asaṅga is subtle emptiness, and it does not differ from the emptiness that is delineated in the Prajñāpāramitāsūtras." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 100.

"Gyeltsap thus shows that ultimately both buddhas and sentient beings share the same suchness of mind which is the ultimate nature of mind that is free from natural defilements. Because of this he argues that all sentient beings have tathāgata-essence, and it is through this that he establishes the connection between tathāgata-essence and the concept of one-vehicle, the notion that ultimately there is only the final goal of buddhahood." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 99.

"In brief, Gyeltsap argues that buddha-nature, or tathāgata-essence, does not refer to a fully enlightened entity covered by adventitious defilements. Rather it is the same as the emptiness of inherent existence that is explicated in texts such as the Prajñāpāramitāsūtras and Madhyamakāvatāra." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 106.

  • "In his Uttaratantra commentary, Gyeltsap shows the strong influence of Tsongkhapa's Illuminating the Thoughts of the Madhyamaka. He criticizes those who propose that the Uttaratantra is a Cittamātra text, arguing that it explicates the ultimate truth presented in the Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 98.
  • "In arguing that the emptiness expounded in the Prajñāpāramitāsūtras and the tathāgata-essence explicated in the Uttaratantra are the same, Gyeltsap accords the status to the Uttaratantra equal to that of Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, Candrakīrti's Madhyamakāvatāra, and other Madhyamaka treatises which present the ultimate view of Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 100.

Other names

  • རྒྱལ་ཚབ་རྗེ་ · other names (Tibetan)
  • དགའ་ལྡན་ཁྲི་པ་༠༢་ · other names (Tibetan)
  • rgyal tshab rje · other names (Wylie)
  • dga' ldan khri pa 02 · other names (Wylie)
  • Ganden Tripa, 2nd · other names

Affiliations & relations

  • Geluk · religious affiliation
  • Tsong kha pa · teacher
  • Red mda' ba gzhon nu blo gros · teacher
  • 'jam dbyangs chos rje bkra shis dpal ldan · student
  • Dalai Lama, 1st · student
  • mkhas grub rje · student
  • 'dul 'dzin grags pa rgyal mtshan · student