How Can a Momentary and Conditioned Mind Be Integral to Gzhan Stong?

Article

Citation:	Burchardi, Anne. "How Can a Momentary and Conditioned Mind Be Integral to Gzhan Stong?" Journal of Buddhist Philosophy 2 (2016): 55–77.

Abstract

No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:

The question of ever-present change must be as old as the discipline of philosophy itself. The notion of constant flux attributed to Heraclitus (c. 535-c. 475 BC) and known as "panta rhei" was largely forgotten in the later development of Greek thought, but in India the notion of universal flux developed from around the sixth century BCE onward and inspired different philosophical systems, among them the Buddhist philosophy.

The Buddha’s statement "all that is conditioned[1] is impermanent!"[2] is known as one of The "Four Seals," the cornerstone of all Buddhist traditions. In Buddhist logic this seal became the basis for the equation: "Whatever is conditioned is impermanent and whatever is impermanent is conditioned. Whatever is not conditioned is not impermanent and whatever is not impermanent is not conditioned."

In Buddhism, the doctrine of the impermanence of conditioned entities is interwoven with the doctrine of causality. The fact that an entity is conditioned by previous causes and moments makes it subject to impermanence. The doctrine of impermanence was further refined into the doctrine of momentariness. This doctrine postulates a process of momentary arising and cessation on the micro level that happens so fast that it is perceived as a continuity.[3]

The following presentation will highlight different definitions and classifications of what the terms conditioned and impermanent might mean for a number of selected Tibetan Buddhist masters in their interpretations of the true nature of the mind. Their literary works are invariably based, directly or indirectly, upon Indian Buddhist śāstras translated into Tibetan.

Notes

S. saṃskṛta, T. ’du byas or ’du byed.
S. anitya, T. mi rtag pa.
See Stcherbatsky’s Buddhist Logic, von Rospatt’s The Buddhist Doctrine of Momentariness, and Dreyfus’s Recognizing Reality for a detailed treatment of the Buddhist notions of impermanence and momentariness.