Tsong kha pa
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Showing how it is absolutely essential for—and goes hand in hand with—the achievement of insight into reality, he gives practical tips for countering sleepiness, agitation, and their more subtle counterparts. Leading us step by step toward deeper levels of concentration, volume 4 of the Steps on the Path to Enlightenment series brings readers closer to the ultimate goal of śamatha: unlimited and effortless focus. (Source: Wisdom Publications)
Written as a supplement to Nagarjuna’s Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way, Candrakīrti’s text integrates the central insight of Nagarjuna’s thought—the rejection of any metaphysical notion of intrinsic existence—with the well-known Mahayana framework of the ten levels of the bodhisattva, and it became the most studied presentation of Madhyamaka thought in Tibet.
Completed the year before the author’s death, Tsongkhapa’s exposition of Candrakīrti's text is recognized by the Tibetan tradition as the final standpoint of Tsongkhapa on many philosophical questions, particularly the clear distinctions it draws between the standpoints of the Madhyamaka and Cittamatra schools.
Written in exemplary Tibetan, Tsongkhapa’s work presents a wonderful marriage of rigorous Madhyamaka philosophical analysis with a detailed and subtle account of the progressively advancing mental states and spiritual maturity realized by sincere Madhyamaka practitioners. (Source: Thupten Jinpa, Illuminating the Intent, 2021.)principal stages that Tsong kha pa composed. The others include (1) the Lam rim chung ba ("Short Treatise on the Stages of the Path"), also called the Lam rim 'bring ba ('"Intermediate Treatise on the States of the Path") and (2) the Lam rim bsdus don ("Concise Meaning of the Stages of the Path"), occasionally also referred to as the Lam rim chung ngu ("Brief Stages of the Path"). The latter text, which records Tsong kha pa's own realization of the path in verse form, is also referred to as the Lam rim nyams mgur ma ("Song of Experience of the Stages of the Path"). The Lam rim chen mo is a highly detailed and often technical treatise presenting a comprehensive and synthetic overview of the path to buddhahood. It draws, often at length, upon a wide range of scriptural sources including the Sūtra and śāstra literature of both the hīnayāna and Mahāyāna; Tsong kha pa treats tantric practice in a separate work. The text is organized under the rubric of the three levels of spiritual predilection, personified as "the three individuals" (skyes bu gsum): the beings of small capacity, who engage in religious practice in order to gain a favorable rebirth in their next lifetime; the beings of intermediate capacity, who seek liberation from rebirth for themselves as an arhat; and the beings of great capacity, who seek to liberate all beings in the universe from suffering and thus follow the bodhisattva path to buddhahood. Tsong kha pa's text does not lay out all the practices of these three types of persons but rather those practices essential to the bodhisattva path that are held in common by persons of small and intermediate capacity, such as the practice of refuge (śaraṇa) and contemplation of the uncertainty of the time of death. The text includes extended discussions of topics such as relying on a spiritual master, the development of bodhicitta, and the six perfections (pāramitā). The last section of
the text, sometimes regarded as a separate work, deals at length with the nature of serenity (śamatha) and insight (vipaśyanā); Tsong kha pa's discussion of insight here represents one of his most important expositions of emptiness (śūnyatā). Primarily devoted to exoteric Mahāyāna doctrine, the text concludes with a brief reference to Vajrayāna and the practice of tantra, a subject discussed at length by Tsong kha pa in a separate work, the Sngags rim chen mo ("Stages of the Path of Mantra"). The Lam rim chen mo's full title is Skyes bu gsum gyi rnyams su blang ba'i rim pa thams cad tshang bar ston pa'i byang chub lam gyi rim pa. (Source: "Lam rim chen mo." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 465-66. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)On the topic of this person
- the old order called Nying-ma-ba,'"`UNIQ--ref-00002AD0-QINU`"' which reached its full development in the fourteenth century with the scholar-yogi Long-chen-rap-jam'"`UNIQ--ref-00002AD1-QINU`"'
- a highly scholastic order called Ge-luk-ba,'"`UNIQ--ref-00002AD2-QINU`"' founded by the fourteenth century scholar-yogi Dzongka-ba.'"`UNIQ--ref-00002AD3-QINU`"'
Dzong-ka-ba was born in 1357 in the northeastern province of Tibet called Am-do,'"`UNIQ--ref-00002AD7-QINU`"' now included by the occupying Chinese Communists not in the Tibetan Autonomous Region but in Ch'ing-hai Province. He studied the new and old schools extensively, and developed his own tradition called Ge-luk-ba. Dzongka- ba and his followers established a system of education centered especially in large universities, eventually in three areas of Tibet but primarily in Hla-sa, the capital, which in some ways was for the Tibet cultural region what Rome is for the Catholic Church. For five centuries, young men came from all over the Tibetan cultural region to these large Tibetan universities to study (I say "men" because women were, for the most part, excluded from the scholastic culture). Until the Communist takeovers, these students usually returned to their own countries after completing their degrees.
My presentation on the mind of clear light is largely from standard Nying-ma-ba and Ge-luk-ba perspectives on the two basic forms of what Tibetan tradition accepts as Shākyamuni Buddha's teaching—the Sūtra Vehicle and the Tantra Vehicle, also called the Vajra Vehicle.'"`UNIQ--ref-00002AD8-QINU`"' (Hopkins, background, 245–46)
Gorampa's text is polemical, and his targets are two of Tibet's greatest thinkers: Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelug school, and Dolpopa, a founding figure of the Jonang school. Distinguishing the Views argues that Dolpopa has fallen into an eternalistic extreme, whereas Tsongkhapa has fallen into nihilism, and that only the mainstream Sakya view—what Gorampa calls "freedom from extremes"—represents the true middle way, the correct view of emptiness. Suppressed for years in Tibet, this seminal work today is widely regarded and is studied in some of Tibet's greatest academic institutions.
Gorampa's treatise has been translated and annotated here by two leading scholars of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, and a critical edition of the Tibetan text on facing pages gives students and scholars direct access to Gorampa's own words. José Cabezón's extended introduction provides a thorough overview of Tibetan polemical literature and contextualizes the life and work of Gorampa both historically and intellectually. Freedom from Extremes will be indispensable for serious students of Madhyamaka thought. (Source: Wisdom Publications)
A part of "The Life and Legacy of Lama Tsongkhapa" presented by Tse Chen Ling
This event was held at Tse Chen Ling in San Francisco on September 20 and 21, 2019. Over the course of two days (three sessions), Don Handrick examined Tsongkhapa's exposition of enlightenment based on Maitreya's text "Sublime Continuum."
Maitreya's "Sublime Continuum" on Buddha Nature
What is enlightenment? How is it possible? Who can achieve it? One of Mahayana Buddhism’s most important teachings is the doctrine of tathagatagarbha, or buddha nature, the innate pure and changeless essence of the mind which gives rise to the fundamental potential for each being to attain full enlightenment or buddhahood. In this course we will examine selected verses from the first chapter of Maitreya’s Sublime Continuum of the Mahayana (Mahayana-uttaratantra Shastra), a text replete with rich poetic imagery and metaphor, to explore this profound and inspiring topic. . . .
"The Life and Legacy of Lama Tsongkhapa"
Wǒnch'ŭk, bCom ldan rig ral and Bu ston understood that ninth consciousness is ultimately the seeds of the eighth consciousness, or else the pure part thereof. In terms of the content of the controversy, gZad ring, bCom ldan rig ral and Bu ston largely follow a common archetype. They introduce the ninth consciousness without mentioning Paramārtha; they refer to tathāgatagarbha doctrine, relying upon a passage from the Samādhirāja-sūtra as their proof-text; and in rejecting the doctrine of ninth consciousness, they propose that ninth consciousness must exist either actually or potentially, and then reject both alternatives. Since these two points cannot be identified in Wǒnch'ŭk's commentary, we can postulate that the controversy between these scholars was an innovative creation and development from within Tibetan Buddhism. Furthermore, it also seems that in the transmission of ninth consciousness doctrine in Tibet, there arose certain distortions (or deviations from Wǒnch'ŭk's theories), such as when gZad ring ascribes the doctrine of ninth consciousness not to Paramārtha, but to Bhavya.
We also must not neglect the fact that the doctrine of ninth consciousness affirmed in these commentaries to the Abhidharmasamuccaya is not completely identical to that described by Tsong kha pa. Comparison with these texts, which constitute the immediate context for his discussion, highlights the fact that in discussing Paramārtha's doctrine of ninth consciousness as it appears in Wonchuk, Tsong kha pa cites Wonchuk's work directly, rather than second-hand (i.e. rather than relying upon predecessors who utilize Wonchuk's exposition); and in refuting the doctrine of ninth consciousness, he attempts to construct proofs on the basis of his own original viewpoint, rather than recycling the arguments of his predecessors. We are surely justified in judging that it was Tsong kha pa's achievement to absorb Wonchuk's commentary for himself, and to attempt to correct the distortions incidental to the transmission of ninth consciousness doctrine in Tibet. (Source Accessed June 16, 2020)
Section II investigates the complex, and controversial, problem of whether a (Prāsaṅgika) Mādhyamika may, within the frame of his school's philosophy, assert a thesis (pratijñā) and maintain a philosophical position (pakṣa, mata). It is a reworked and expanded version of an earlier study: 'On the thesis and assertion in the Madhyamaka/dBu ma' in E. Steinkellner and H. Tauscher (ed.), Contributions on Tibetan and Buddhist religion and philosophy (Proceedings of the Csoma de Korös Symposium held at Velm-Vienna, 13-19 September 1981 (Vienna, 1983), pp. 205-241).
Section III concerns the very significant place occupied in Tsoṅ kha pa's Madhyamaka philosophy by the ideas and methods of epistemological and logical system (pramāṇavidyā) of Dharmakīrti. It is an expanded version of a study first published in 1991: 'On pramāṇa theory in Tsoṅ khap pa's Madhyamaka philosophy' in E. Steinkellner (ed.), Studies in the Buddhist epistemological tradition (Proceedings of the Second International Dharmakīrti Conference, Vienna, 11-16 June, 1989, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophische-Historische Klasse, Denkschriften, 222. Band (Vienna, 1991), pp. 281-310).
Part II of these Studies will contain annotated translations of Candrakīrti's Sanskrit commentary on Madhyamakakārikā i.1 taken from his renowned Prasannapadā madhyamakavṛttiḥ and of rGyal tshab Dar ma rin chen's Tibetan Summary-Memorandum on the Eight Crucial Points in Madhyamaka philosophy (dKya' gnad/gnas brgyad kyi zin bris). (Source: foreword in Part I)
Paul Williams places this controversy in its Indian and Tibetan context. He traces in detail Mi pham's position in his commentary on the Bodhicaryaāvatāra, the attack of one of his opponents, and his response, as well as indicating ways in which this controversy over the nature of awareness may be important within the context of Mi pham's rNyingma heritage of rDzogs chen thought and practice.
This book is the first book length study of its subject, and also includes a reprint of a previous paper by Williams on the reflexive nature of awareness, as well as the relevant Tibetan texts from Mi pham. The book will be of interest to all students of Indian and Tibetan Madhyamaka, as well as associated areas of Buddhist thought such as Yogācāra and the philosophy of Dharmakīrti. It will also be of value to those concerned with the intelectual foundations of rDzogs chen. (Source: Back cover of Routledge 2013 edition)
Philosophical positions of this person
Wangchuk quotes mkhas grub rje as stating, "In our system, Jé Rinpoché (rje rin po che, that is, Tsongkhapa) mentions that the Uttaratantra primarily comments on the meaning of those sutras that are in conformity with the middle-wheel teachings, such as the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra, Samādhirājasūtra, Jnānālokasūtra, Aṅgulimālāsūtra, Śrīmālādevīsūtra, and so forth." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 89.
Note that Wangchuk maintains that he developed this certainty later in his career.
- He quotes his Golden Rosary of Excellent Exposition as stating that the Mind-Only presentation of buddha-nature as, "the viewpoint explicated in the Uttaratantra." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 90.
- Though he later quotes his presumably final stance as: "In his Illuminating the Thoughts of the Madhyamaka, Tsongkhapa clearly states, "The great master Asaṅga also did not explain the Uttaratantra according to the Cittamātra School, rather he explicated it according to the Madhyamaka School." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 93.
Wangchuk cites Tsongkhapa's students and commentators on this issue:
- He quotes mkhas grub rje as stating, "In our system, Jé Rinpoché (rje rin po che that is, Tsongkhapa) mentions that... The content of the Uttaratantra is in conformity with Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 89.
- And later on,, "Similarly, Chöwang Drakpé Pel states, "The All-knowing Jétsün (rje btsun, that is, Tsongkhapa) repeatedly made the roar of a lion amongst an assembly of scholars proclaiming that the ultimate view of the Abhisamayālamkāra and the Uttaratantra falls within the system of Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 89.
Other names
- ཙོང་ཁ་པ་བློ་བཟང་གྲགས་པ་ · other names (Tibetan)
- བློ་བཟང་གྲགས་པའི་དཔལ་ · other names (Tibetan)
- བློ་བཟང་གྲགས་པ་ · other names (Tibetan)
- tsong kha pa blo bzang grags pa · other names (Wylie)
- blo bzang grags pa'i dpal · other names (Wylie)
- blo bzang grags pa · other names (Wylie)
Affiliations & relations
- Geluk · religious affiliation
- Ganden Monastery · primary professional affiliation
- bsod nams rgyal mtshan · teacher
- Red mda' ba gzhon nu blo gros · teacher
- Nya dbon kun dga' dpal · teacher
- Phyogs las rnam rgyal · teacher
- sgra tshad pa rin chen rnam rgyal · teacher
- Karmapa, 4th · teacher
- 'dul 'dzin grags pa rgyal mtshan · student
- 'gos lo tsA ba gzhon nu dpal · student
- 'jam dbyangs chos rje bkra shis dpal ldan · student
- mkhas grub rje · student
- Rgyal tshab rje dar ma rin chen · student
- spyan nga bsod nams bzang po · student