One of the most important Madhyamaka authors of late Indian Buddhism, a major representative of the Yogācāra-Madhyamaka synthesis, and a participant in the famous Bsam yas Debate. According to Tibetan doxographies, he was a proponent of the Yogācāra-Svātantrika-Madhyamaka. Although little is known about his life, according to Tibetan sources he was a monk and teacher at Nālandā. Tibetan sources also count him as one of three (together with Śāntarakṣita and Jñãnagarbha) “Eastern Svātantrikas” (rang rgyud shar gsum), suggesting that he was from Bengal. He was clearly a direct disciple of Śāntarakṣita, composing important commentaries on his teacher’s two major works, the Madhyamakālaṃkāra and the Tattvasaṃgraha. The latter commentary, which is extant in Sanskrit, is an important source for both Hindu and Buddhist philosophical positions in the eighth century. (Source: "Kamalaśīla." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 411. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
Philosophical positions of this person
Is buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional?
Do all beings have buddha-nature?
Qualified Yes
Is buddha-nature equated with emptiness or alayavijnana?
Are there one or three vehicles on the path to buddhahood?
1
Do the author's writings belong to the analytic or meditative tradition of Uttaratantra exegesis?
What is Buddha-nature?
Tathāgatagarbha as the Emptiness That is a Non-implicative Negation (without enlightened qualities)
Does the author advocate the Svatantrika or Prasangika view of emptiness?
Affiliations & relations
- Nalanda · religious affiliation
- Śāntarakṣita · teacher
