Interpretations of Unity: Hermeneutics in Śākya mchog ldan's Interpretation of the Five Treatises of Maitreya

Dissertation

Abstract

This dissertation is a study of the process through which Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, by synthesizing doctrines and texts into consistent models, integrates views of reality within doctrinal and soteriological systems. It consists of an analysis of the most fundamental doctrinal tension found in the Tibetan tradition, namely the apparent inconsistency of doctrines belonging to the negative Mādhyamika and to the more affirmative Yogācāra trends of Mahāyāna Buddhism. As a case study aiming to provide a first systematic examination of that problematic, the dissertation surveys and analyzes Tibetan interpretation of the set of texts referred to as the Five Treatises of Maitreya (byams chos sde lnga), and at the way those interpretations deal with the doctrinal tensions found in that set of text. In addition to providing a recension of major interpretations of the Five Treatises developed between 1100 and 1500, a detailed account is given of the model of interpretation given by gSer mdog Paṇ chen Śākya mchog ldan, a famous teacher of the Sa skya school of Tibetan Buddhism. When confronted with the features of other interpretations, Śākya mchog ldan's interpretation of the Five Treatises, which proceeds primarily by allowing a plurality of views to be maintained even at the level of definitive meaning, provides us with a new insight in the Tibetan philosophical tradition: the most fundamental dimension of philosophical reconciliation of doctrinal views, especially of the kind found in the Five Treatises, can be described as pertaining to textual hermeneutics. Moreover, Śākya mchog ldan's contribution to that domain of Buddhist thought, by placing hermeneutics at the very centre of his system of Buddhist doctrine and practice, suggests that hermeneutics is a fundamental category of all Buddhist philosophical debates, and that it should be part of any attempt to understand the Tibetan philosophical tradition.

Citation	Turenne, Philippe. "Interpretations of Unity: Hermeneutics in Śākya mchog ldan's Interpretation of the Five Treatises of Maitreya." PhD diss., McGill University, 2010. https://archive.org/details/interpretationsofunityhermeneuticsinsakyamchogldaninterpretationoffivetreatiseso_985_N/mode/2up.

Abstract2
Acknowledgments7
Abbreviations10
Introduction13
- 1. Context13
- 2. Buddhist Hermeneutics: Literature Review28
- 3. Division of Topics38
Chapter 143
The Place and Importance of the Five Treatises of Maitreya in Tibetan Buddhist Doctrine43
- 1. Tibetan fields of knowledge43
- 2. The importance of Madhyamaka for doctrinal identity48
- 3. Scriptural sources for Perfection of Wisdom and Madhyamaka51
- 4. The Tension Between Two Currents56
- 5. The Importance of a Resolution60
Chapter 2: Tibetan Interpretations of the Five Treatises70
- - Note on Method71
- 1. Definition and History of the notion of the "Five Treatises"74
  - 1. History of the Five Treatises in Tibet75
    - a) The Treatises translated during the early propagation
      (snga dar)75
    - b) The Five Treatises at the time of the later propagation
      (phyi dar)77
  - 2. History of the Concept of the Five Treatises80
- 2. Interpretations of the Five Treatises89
  - - rNgog Lotsāwa Blo ldan shes rab (1059-1109)89
    - Phya pa Chos kyi seng ge (1109-? )90
    - Sa skya Paṇḍita Kun dga' rgyal mtshan (1182-1251)92
    - Dol po pa Shes rab rgyal mtshan (1292-1360)96
    - Bu ston Rin chen grub (1290-1364)99
    - kLong chen rab ―byams (1308-1363)101
    - Third Karmapa Rang byung rdo rje (1284-1339)104
    - Blo gros mtshungs med (early 1300s)106
    - Red mda' ba gZhon nu bLo gros (1349-1412)108
    - Tsong kha pa bLo bzang grags pa (1357-1419)110
    - Rong ston Shes bya kun rig (1367-1449)112
- 3. Analysis and typology of interpretations113
Chapter 3: Śākya mchog ldan's defense of the definitive meaning of the Five
Treatises in the Byams chos lnga'i nges don rab tu gsal ba120
- 1. The Byams chos lnga'i nges don rab tu gsal ba122
- 2. The Order of the Five Treatises125
- 3. The Doxographical Classification of the Five Treatises130
  - 1. Privileging the authority of Asaṅga and Vasubandhu133
  - 2. Stressing passages against reification of mind in the
    Five Treatises and their commentaries139
  - 3. Śākya mchog ldan's systematic harmonization of the meaning of the
    Five Treatises142
    - a) Interpretation of the Abhisamayālaṅkāra143
    - b) Interpretation of Ratnagotravibhāga as other-emptiness (gzhan
      stong)149
- 4. Summary of the meaning of the Five Treatises154
- 5. Analysis and interpretation158
Chapter 4: The Place of the Five Treatises in the Thought of Śākya mchog
ldan164
- 1. Śākya mchog ldan's Interpretation of the Five Treatises in Works Other
  than the BCN165
- 2. Elements of Śākya mchog ldan's general interpretation of Mahāyāna
  Doctrines180
  - 1. General classification of the Mahāyāna180
  - 2. Śākya mchog ldan's attitude towards the view of niḥsvabhāvavāda184
  - 3. Interpretation of Vajrayāna as tantric Madhyamaka190
  - 4. Śākya mchog ldan on Pramāṇa Theory193
  - 5. Interpretation of buddha nature195
- Summary196
Conclusion200
Appendix 1: Translation of the introductory part of the Byams chos lnga'i nges
don rab tu gsal ba of Śākya mchog ldan205
- 1. Preliminary remarks205
- 2. Translation207
Bibliography254
- Bibliography of Indian and Tibetan Sources254
- Modern Scholarship262

PaN chen shAkya mchog ldan. byams chos lnga'i nges don rab tu gsal ba (introductory chapter). In gsung 'bum shAkya mchog ldan. TBRC W23200. 11: 7 - 43. New Delhi: Nagwang Topgyel, 1995. [1]