How Can a Momentary and Conditioned Mind Be Integral to Gzhan Stong?

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How Can a Momentary and Conditioned Mind Be Integral to Gzhan Stong?
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Citation: Burchardi, Anne. "How Can a Momentary and Conditioned Mind Be Integral to Gzhan Stong?" Journal of Buddhist Philosophy 2 (2016): 55–77.

Abstract

No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:

The question of ever-present change must be as old as the discipline of philosophy itself. The notion of constant flux attributed to Heraclitus (c. 535-c. 475 BC) and known as "panta rhei" was largely forgotten in the later development of Greek thought, but in India the notion of universal flux developed from around the sixth century BCE onward and inspired different philosophical systems, among them the Buddhist philosophy.

The Buddha’s statement "all that is conditioned[1] is impermanent!"[2] is known as one of The "Four Seals," the cornerstone of all Buddhist traditions. In Buddhist logic this seal became the basis for the equation: "Whatever is conditioned is impermanent and whatever is impermanent is conditioned. Whatever is not conditioned is not impermanent and whatever is not impermanent is not conditioned."

In Buddhism, the doctrine of the impermanence of conditioned entities is interwoven with the doctrine of causality. The fact that an entity is conditioned by previous causes and moments makes it subject to impermanence. The doctrine of impermanence was further refined into the doctrine of momentariness. This doctrine postulates a process of momentary arising and cessation on the micro level that happens so fast that it is perceived as a continuity.[3]

The following presentation will highlight different definitions and classifications of what the terms conditioned and impermanent might mean for a number of selected Tibetan Buddhist masters in their interpretations of the true nature of the mind. Their literary works are invariably based, directly or indirectly, upon Indian Buddhist śāstras translated into Tibetan.

Notes
  1. S. saṃskṛta, T. du byas or du byed.
  2. S. anitya, T. mi rtag pa.
  3. See Stcherbatsky’s Buddhist Logic, von Rospatt’s The Buddhist Doctrine of Momentariness, and Dreyfus’s Recognizing Reality for a detailed treatment of the Buddhist notions of impermanence and momentariness.

References

Primary Sources (Tibetan)

  • 'Brug pa kun mkhyen padma dkar po. Phyag chen rgyal ba'i gan mdzod. Varanasi: Vajra Vidya Institute Library, 2005.
  • Burchardi, Anne, ed. Bde gshegs snying po'i stong thun chen mo seng ge'i nga ro. The Lion's Roar A Synopsis of Sugatagarbha by Mi pham phyogs las mam rgyal, Bdud las mam gyal gling, 1891. Critical edition and English translation based on explanations given by Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen. Copenhagen: Unpublished.
  • Dbus dang mtha' rnam 'byed. Bod gzhung shes rig par khang, 1986.
  • Dol po pa shes rab rgyal mtshan. Ri chos nges don rgya mtsho zhes bya ba mthar thug thun mong mayinpa'i man ngag. Gangtok: Dodrup Sangyey Lama, 1976.
  • 'Jams mgon kon sprul bio gros mtha' yas. Thegpa chenpo rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos snying po'i don mngon sum lam gyi bshad srol dang sbyar ba'i rnam par 'grel pa phyir miu ldogpa senge ge'i nga ro. Rumtek, n.d.
  • ———. Shes bya kun khyab. Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1982.
  • Mathes, Klaus-Dieter, ed. 'gos lo tsā ba gzhon nu dpal's Commentary on the Ratnagotravibhābavyākhyā Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi 'grel bshad de kho na nyid rab tu gsal ba'i me long. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2003.
  • Namgyal C. and Tsewang Taru. Jo nang rje btsun Tāranātha's Collected Works. Rtag brtan Phun tshog gling blocks. Sman rtsis shes rig dpe mdzod series. Leh, Ladakh, 1982.
  • Rang byung rdo rje. Dpal brtshegs bod yig dpe rnying zhib 'jug khang n.d. Dpal rgyal ba karma pa sku phreng gsum pa rang byung rdo rje'i gsung 'bum.
  • ———. "De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa" vol. ja pp. 1–5 (282–90), in Dpal brtshegs bod yig dpe rnying zhib 'jug khang n.d.
  • ———. "Zab mo nang gi don" vol. ja pp. 1–27 (308–60), in Dpal brtshegs bod yig dpe rnying zhib 'jug khang n.d.
  • ———. "Gsang sngags zab mo nang gi 'grel ba" vol. ja pp. 1–137 (361–634), in Dpal brtshegs bod yig dpe rnying zhib 'jug khang n.d.
  • Śākya mchog ldan. 'Dzam gling sangs rgyas bstan pa'i rgyan mchog yongs rdzogs gnas lngar mkhyen pa'i pandita chen po gser mdog pan chen shākya mchog ldan gyi gsung 'bum legs bshad gser gyi bdud rtsi. In Collected Works. Thimphu: Kunzang Tobgey, 1975.
  • ———. "Rgyud bla ma'i rnam bshad sngon med nyi ma" pp. 113–58, vol. 13, in Collected Works.
  • ———. "Sdom gsum gyi rab tu dbye ba'i bstan beos kyi 'bel gtam gser gyi thur ma," vol. 6, in Collected Works.
  • Tāranātha. Gzhan stong snying po, pp. 491–514, vol. 4, in Namgyal C. and Tsewang Taru, 1982.
  • ———. Jo nang rje btsun tā ra nā tha'i gsung 'bum dpe bsdur ma. Edited by Dpal brtshegs bod yig dpe rnying zhib 'jug khang. Mes po'i zhul bzhag series. Beijing: Krung go'i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang, 2007.
  • ———. Zab don nyer cig pa, pp. 196–208, vol. 26, in Dpal brtshegs bod yig dpe rnying zhib 'jug khang, 2007.


Other Works and Translations

  • Brunnhölzl, Karl. Luminous Heart: The Third Karmapa on Consciousness, Wisdom, and Buddha Nature. Nitartha Institute Series. Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2009.
  • Burchardi, Anne. "A Provisional list of Tibetan Commentaries on The Ratnagotravibhāga." The Tibet Journal XXXI, no. 4 (2006).
  • ———. "A Look at the Diversity of the Gzhan stong Tradition." Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies no. 3: 1–24. www.thdl.org?id=T3128.15506363/2007/3/T3128.
  • ———. "Shakya mchog ldan's Literary Heritage in Bhutan." In Written Treasures of Bhutan: Mirror of the Past and Bridge to the Future. Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Rich Scriptural Heritage of Bhutan, 25–75. Thimphu: The National Library of Bhutan, 2008.
  • Callahan, Elizabeth M. The Treasury of Knowledge: Jamg'on Kongtrul: Frameworks of Buddhist Philosophy. Book Six, Part Three. Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2007.
  • Dreyfuss, Georges B. J. Recognizing Reality—Dharmakirti's Philosophy and Its Tibetan Interpretations. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997.
  • Hopkins, Jeffrey. Mountain Doctrine: Tibet's Fundamental Treatise on Other-Emptiness and the Buddha-Matrix. Ithaca and Boulder: Snow Lion, 2006.
  • ———. The Essence of Other-Emptiness by Tāranātha. Ithaca and Boulder: Snow Lion, 2007.
  • Kapstein, Matthew. "Mi-Pham's Theory of Interpretation." In Buddhist Hermeneutics, edited by Donald S. Lopez, 149–74. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1993 (1988).
  • Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche. A Presentation of the Two Truths in the Three Yānas and the Mahāyāna Philosophical Traditions. Halifax: Nalanda Translation Committee, 1992.
  • Komarovski, Yaroslav L. Echoes of Empty Luminosity: Reevaluation and Unique Interpretation of Yogācāra and Niḥsvabhāvavāda Madhyamaka by the Fifteenth Century Tibetan Thinker Śākya mchog ldan. Phd dissertation, Department of Religious Studies, University of Virginia, 2007.
  • ———. "Reburying the Treasure—Maintaining the Continuity: Two Texts by Shakya Chokden on the Buddha-essence." Journal of Indian Philosophy 34, no. 6 (2006): 521–70.
  • ———. "Shakya Chokden's Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhāga: ‘Contemplative' or 'Dialectical'"? Journal of Indian Philosophy, 2010.
  • ———. Three Texts on Madhyamaka. Dharamsala: LTWA, 2000.
  • Lopez, Donald S. "Introduction." In Buddhist Hermeneutics, edited by Donald S. Lopez, 1–11. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1993 (1988).
  • Mathes, Klaus-Dieter. "Tāranātha's ‘Twenty-one differences with regard to the profound meaning'—Comparing the Views of the Two Gzhan Stong Masters Dol po pa and Śākya mchog ldan." Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 27, no. 2 (2004): 285–328.
  • ———. The Direct Path to the Buddha Within: Gö Lotsāwa's Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhāga. Somerville: Wisdom, 2008.
  • von Rospatt, Alexander. The Buddhist Doctrine of Momentariness: A Survey of the Origins and Early Phase of This Doctrine up to Vasubandhu. Alt-und neu-indische Studien Vol. 47. Stuttgart: Steiner, 1995.
  • Stcherbatsky, Fyodor Ippolitovitch. Buddhist Logic. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1995 (1930).
  1. S. saṃskṛta, T. ’du byas or ’du byed
  2. S. anitya, T. mi rtag pa
  3. See Stcherbatsky’s Buddhist Logic, von Rospatt’s The Buddhist Doctrine of Momentariness, and Dreyfus’s Recognizing Reality for a detailed treatment of the Buddhist notions of impermanence and momentariness.
  4. Sometimes, this phrase is rendered “blo rig.”
  5. T. rang stong.
  6. T. gzhan stong.
  7. Lopez, “Introduction,” 3.
  8. See Burchardi’s “A Provisional list of Tibetan Commentaries on The Ratnagotravibhāga.”