- List of Tables ix
- Acknowledgments xi
- Introduction 1
- 1. Introducing the Visions of Unity 6
- 2. Introducing the Chapters 11
- Chapter One: Life and Works of the Golden Paṇḍita 17
- 1. Political and Religious Landscape of Fifteenth-Century Tibet 17
- 2. Life of the Golden Paṇḍita 23
- Early Years and Education 25
- Becoming a Prolific Writer and Famous Scholar 31
- Settling in the Golden Monastery and Exploring New Horizons 35
- Becoming a Tantric Master and Crystallizing Novel Views 44
- 3. Writings of Shakya Chokden 51
- Chronological List of Shakya Chokden's Works 51
- Topical Divisions of Shakya Chokden's Works Addressed in This Book 59
- Chapter Two: The Intellectual Background
of Shakya Chokden's Interpretation of Yogācāra and Madhyamaka 71
- Chapter Three: Readjusting Rungs of the Ladder: Revisiting Doxographical Hierarchies 109
- 1. Key Features of Shakya Chokden's Approach to the Buddhist Tenets 109
- 2. Demarcating the Middle: On the Valid Divisions of Madhyamaka and
Great Madhyamaka 116 - 3. Self-Emptiness and Other-Emptiness 122
- Self-Emptiness 124
- Other-Emptiness 127
- 4. Bidding Farewell to the Prāsaṅgika/Svātantrika Division? 136
- 5. Are There Two Types of Yogācāra Madhyamaka? 141
- 6. Are There Any Cittamātra Followers Around? 145
- 7. Expanding the Madhyamika Camp 150
- Chapter Four: Through Broken Boundaries to New Enclosures: Reconciling
Yogācāra and Madhyamaka 157- 1. Differences between Alīkākāravāda and Satyākāravāda 157
- 2. The Heart of the Matter: Probing the Alīkākāravāda/ Niḥsvabhāvavāda Distinction 168
- 3. A New Look at the Old Origins: Distinctions of Madhyamaka Stemming
from Interpretations of the Second and Third Dharmacakras 183- Looking at the Second and Third Dharmacakras through the Eyes of the
Madhyamaka Founders 183 - Position of Alīkākāravāda 186
- Position of Niḥsvabhāvavāda 191
- Positions of Later Madhyamikas 201
- Looking at the Second and Third Dharmacakras through the Eyes of the
- 4. Steering the Middle Way between the Two Conflicting Middle Ways:
The Art of Not Taking Sides 207
- Chapter Five: Explorations in Empty Luminosity: Shakya Chokden's Position on Primordial Mind 213
- 1. Facing the Reality of Primordial Mind 213
- Primordial Mind and the Question of Existence 213
- The Question of Withstanding Analysis 220
- Does True Existence Have to Be Negated in Order to Abandon Grasping at It? 223
- 2. Primordial Mind as an Impermanent Phenomenon 228
- 3. (Un)linking the Self-Cognizing Primordial Mind and Dualistic
Consciousness 238 - 4. Does Self-Cognition Cognize Itself? 242
- 5. Primordial Mind as the Bridge between Yogācāra and Tantra 249
- 1. Facing the Reality of Primordial Mind 213
- Conclusion: The Grand Unity—Shakya Chokden's Middle Way 269
- Glossary of Buddhist Terms: English-Tibetan with Sanskrit Parallels279
- Spellings of Tibetan Names and Terms299
- Notes307
- Bibliography391
- Index423