Gsang phu ba blo gros mtshungs med

From Buddha-Nature

< People

PeopleGsang phu ba blo gros mtshungs med


གསང་ཕུ་བ་བློ་གྲོས་མཚུངས་མེད་
Sangpuwa Lodrö Tsungme(b. 14th Century - ) 

A Kadam scholar from Sangpu Neutok Monastery that was known for his expertise in the Five Treatises of Maitreya. He was a senior contemporary of both Dölpopa and Butön and a teacher of the Sakya scholar Yakde Paṇchen and the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje.

Library Items

On the topic of this person

Philosophical positions of this person


  • "He claims that tathāgata-essence exists in all sentient beings in a fully enlightened form. He states that: the dharma-body is dharma-reality indivisible from [buddha] qualities. Since there is no objection to the fact that the dharma-body exists pervasively in all sentient beings, in the manner of one entity; it is unacceptable to present it, [i.e., the existence of the dharma-body in sentient beings] as [merely] imputed." Wangchuk, Tsering. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 32.
  • "Blo-gros mtshungs-med asserts that... sentient beings truly possess the dharmakāya, which is the dharmadhātu inseparable from the qualities." Kano, K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, p. 329.

"Sangpu Lodrö's commentary frames the Uttaratantra in a positive light, arguing that it is a commentary on definitive sutras included in the last-wheel teachings..." Wangchuk, Tsering. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 31.

"Nevertheless, even though the Uttaratantra and the sutras on which the Uttaratantra is based occupy a position of higher scriptural authority than the middle-wheel teachings of the Prajñāpāramitāsūtras, Sangpu Lodrö claims that both the middle-wheel scriptures and the Uttaratantra teach emptiness. He argues: 'The sutras for the Uttaratantra and the Uttaratantra [itself] do not contradict the Prajñāpāramitāsūtras because the emptiness of inherent existence of all phenomena taught there [in the Prajñāpāramitāsūtras] is the dharma-body explicated here [in the last wheel sutras and the Uttaratantra].'" Wangchuk, Tsering. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 33.

"Blo-gros-mtshungs-med for his part is more intent on harmonizing the expression in the RGV with other scriptures, and probably was fully conscious of the fact that lack of reverence for śrāvakas contradicted his ekayāna stance." Kano, K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, p. 327.

  • "One of the central doctrinal points of Blo-gros-mtshungs-med’s position is the two modes of Buddha-nature: the gnosis aspect and sphere aspect. Under the former, Buddha-nature is existent in terms of its qualities, while under the latter it is empty in terms of its mode of existence. Kano, K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, p. 336.

Affiliations & relations

  • Kadam · religious affiliation
  • g.yag sde paN chen · student
  • rang byung rdo rje · student