Sgra tshad pa rin chen rnam rgyal
From Buddha-Nature
< People
སྒྲ་ཚད་པ་རིན་ཆེན་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་
Dratsepa Rinchen Namgyal(1318 - 1388)
A prominent 14th century scholar associated with Kadam and Skya schools that was a student of Butön, as well as his biographer. He was also an early teacher of Tsongkhapa and is reported to have given the bodhisattva vow to Rongtön.
On the topic of this person
In Defense of His Guru: Dratsepa's Rebuttal to the Challenges Articulated by the Proponents of the Other-Emptiness Doctrine
The buddha-nature literature has a significant place within the Indian Mahāyāna tradition and Tibetan Buddhism. While it is usually included in the so-called Last Wheel of the Buddha’s teachings, many Tibetan thinkers began to cast doubts about the textual significance of buddha-nature discourse in fourteenth century Tibet. In this article, I will examine one particular case where there is apparent tension between multiple Tibetan masters over the importance of buddhanature teachings. This paper primarily analyzes Dratsepa’s commentary to the Ornament (mdzes rgyan) written by his teacher, Buton. Dratsepa construes the Ornament as a work critiquing Dolpopa’s interpretation of the buddha-nature literature. He levels a barrage of criticisms against Dolpopa by referring to Indian śāstras and sūtras that are equally important to both of them, and also by tracing his own assessment of the tathāgata-essence teachings to early Tibetan scholars. In contradistinction to Dolpopa’s claims, Dratsepa offers several nuanced readings of the buddha-nature literature and complicates the notion of what it means to have tathāgata-essence, what a definitive or provisional meaning entails, and the relationship between the Middle Wheel and the Last Wheel teachings. In brief, Dratsepa’s text sheds light on one of the earliest discourses on the tension between self-emptiness and other-emptiness presentations.
Wangchuk, Tsering. "In Defense of His Guru: Dratsepa's Rebuttal to the Challenges Articulated by the Proponents of the Other-Emptiness Doctrine." Journal of Indian Philosophy 39, no. 2 (2011): 147–65.
Wangchuk, Tsering. "In Defense of His Guru: Dratsepa's Rebuttal to the Challenges Articulated by the Proponents of the Other-Emptiness Doctrine." Journal of Indian Philosophy 39, no. 2 (2011): 147–65.; In Defense of His Guru: Dratsepa's Rebuttal to the Challenges Articulated by the Proponents of the Other-Emptiness Doctrine; In Defense of His Guru: Dratsepa's Rebuttal to the Challenges Articulated by the Proponents of the Other-Emptiness Doctrine; Sakya; Sgra tshad pa rin chen rnam rgyal; Tsering Wangchuk;
Wangchuk, Tsering: The Uttaratantra in the Age of Argumentation: Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen and His Fourteenth-Century Interlocutors on Buddha-Lineage
This dissertation examines the intellectual history of the Uttaratantra in Tibet from the 12th century to the early 15th century. It is between these centuries that the text, which is one of the most authoritative works on the notion of tathāgata-essence, takes its shape in Tibet through the writings of some of the most formidable Tibetan thinkers of the time.
Wangchuk, Tsering. "The Uttaratantra in the Age of Argumentation: Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen and His Fourteenth-Century Interlocutors on Buddha-Lineage." PhD diss., University of Virginia, 2009.
Wangchuk, Tsering. "The Uttaratantra in the Age of Argumentation: Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen and His Fourteenth-Century Interlocutors on Buddha-Lineage." PhD diss., University of Virginia, 2009.;The Uttaratantra in the Age of Argumentation: Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen and His Fourteenth-Century Interlocutors on Buddha-Lineage;Debate(s);Defining buddha-nature;History;History of buddha-nature in Tibet;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Tibetan Buddhism;Uttaratantra;Rngog blo ldan shes rab;Phywa pa chos kyi seng+ge;Provisional or definitive;Ngok Tradition;Tsen Tradition;Sa skya paN+Di ta;Bcom ldan rig pa'i ral gri;Dge 'dun 'od zer;Rta nag rin chen ye shes;Gsang phu ba blo gros mtshungs med;Karmapa, 3rd;Dol po pa;gzhan stong;rang stong;Yogācāra;Madhyamaka;Provisional or definitive;Sa bzang ma ti paN chen blo gros rgyal mtshan;Thogs med bzang po;Klong chen pa;Bu ston rin chen grub;Sgra tshad pa rin chen rnam rgyal;Red mda' ba gzhon nu blo gros;Tsong kha pa;Rgyal tshab rje dar ma rin chen;Tsering Wangchuk; The Uttaratantra in the Age of Argumentation: Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen and His Fourteenth-Century Interlocutors on Buddha-Lineage
The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows
Tsering Wangchuk's The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows is a clear and concise introduction to the history of the Uttaratantra and buddha-nature theory in pre-modern Tibet. It is an ideal introduction for someone familiar with Buddhism or Tibetan studies, but not yet familiar with the buddha-nature debate in Tibet. Wangchuk summarizes the writings and views of several of the most important Tibetan philosophers who weighed in on buddha-nature between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries from Ngok Lotsāwa through Sakya Paṇḍita to Dolpopa and Gyeltsap Je.
Wangchuk, Tsering. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows: Tibetan Thinkers Debate the Centrality of the Buddha-Nature Treatise. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2017.
Wangchuk, Tsering. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows: Tibetan Thinkers Debate the Centrality of the Buddha-Nature Treatise. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2017.;The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows;Uttaratantra;History of buddha-nature in Tibet;Debates / Debate;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Tibetan Buddhism;Ngok Tradition;Tsen Tradition;Kadam;Sakya;Geluk;Jonang;Rngog blo ldan shes rab;Phywa pa chos kyi seng+ge;Sa skya paN+Di ta;Bcom ldan rig pa'i ral gri;Karmapa, 3rd;Gsang phu ba blo gros mtshungs med;Rta nag rin chen ye shes;Bu ston rin chen grub;tridharmacakrapravartana;Madhyamaka;Yogācāra;Sa bzang ma ti paN chen blo gros rgyal mtshan;Klong chen pa;Dol po pa;Sgra tshad pa rin chen rnam rgyal;Red mda' ba gzhon nu blo gros;Tsong kha pa;Rgyal tshab rje dar ma rin chen;rang stong;gzhan stong;Provisional or definitive;Tsering Wangchuk; The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows: Tibetan Thinkers Debate the Centrality of the Buddha-Nature Treatise;Rngog blo ldan shes rab;phywa pa chos kyi seng ge;Sa skya rje btsun grags pa rgyal mtshan;Bu ston rin chen grub;blo gros mtshungs med;Sazang Mati Panchen;dge 'dun 'od zer;Thogs med bzang po;klong chen pa;sgra tshad pa rin chen rnam rgyal;Red mda' ba gzhon nu blo gros;tsong kha pa;Rgyal tshab rje dar ma rin chen;Dol po pa
Philosophical positions of this person
Is buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional?
Provisional
"Bu-ston and sGra-tshad-pa make of the RGV a provisional teaching, understanding Buddha-nature as what is literally stated in the RGV." Kano, K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, p. 343.
Do all beings have buddha-nature?
Qualified No
Only Buddhas
- "Taking the reverse position of the Gelugpas on this, both Butön and his student and commentator Dratsépa Rinchen Namgyal (1318–1388) identify the actual tathāgata heart as being solely the final fruition of buddhahood. As the latter says: The fully qualified sugata heart is the dharmakāya of a perfect buddha but never exists in the great mass of sentient beings." Brunnhölzl, K., When the Clouds Part, pp. 67-68.
- Bu-ston and his disciple sGra-tshad-pa assert that Buddha-nature should be understood only in its resultant aspect, namely as only the dharmakäya of a buddha." Kano, K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, p. 343.
- See also Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 73.
To which "turning of the wheel" do the buddha-nature teachings belong?
Third Turning
Both second and third, though third is higher. Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 74.
What is Buddha-nature?
Tathāgatagarbha as the Resultant State of Buddhahood
- Bu-ston and his disciple sGra-tshad-pa assert that Buddha-nature should be understood only in its resultant aspect, namely as only the dharmakāya of a buddha." Kano, K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, p. 343.
- Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 73.
Other names
- སེམས་དཔའ་ཆེན་པོ་རིན་ཆེན་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་ · other names (Tibetan)
- ཐུགས་སྲས་ལོ་ཙཱ་བ་རིན་ཆེན་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་ · other names (Tibetan)
- ཞྭ་ལུ་མཁན་ཆེན་༠༡་ · other names (Tibetan)
- sems dpa' chen po rin chen rnam rgyal · other names (Wylie)
- thugs sras lo tsA ba rin chen rnam rgyal · other names (Wylie)
- zhwa lu mkhan chen 01 · other names (Wylie)
- Zhalu Khenchen, 1st · other names
- Dratsepa · other names
Affiliations & relations
- bka' gdams · religious affiliation
- sa skya · religious affiliation
- Bu ston rin chen grub · teacher
- 'jam dbyangs grags pa rgyal mtshan · student
- Tsong kha pa · student
- sa bzang 'phags pa gzhon nu blo gros · student
