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Studies in Indian and Tibetan Madhyamaka Thought Part 1

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Part I of these Studies in Indian and Tibetan Madhyamaka philosophy consists of three sections. The first outlines the history of the Madhyamaka school in Tibet from its origins toward the end of the eighth century until the time it fully assumed its classical form in the early fifteenth century owing to the efforts of Tson kha pa and other eminent masters of approximately that time. An earlier publication, The literature of the Madhyamaka school of philosophy in India (Wiesbaden, 1981), has traced the history of the Madhyamaka school in India beginning with its source, Nāgārjuna, and extending to the early part of the second millennium of the common era when it was establishing itself firmly in Tibet.

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)

(Source: foreword in Part I)

Citation

Ruegg, David Seyfort. Three Studies in the History of Indian and Tibetan Madhyamaka Philosophy: Studies in Indian and Tibetan Madhyamaka Thought. Pt. 1. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 50. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien Universität Wien, 2000. https://archive.org/details/madhyamikathreestudiesinhistoryofindiantibetanmadhyamakaphilosophydavidseyfortruegg_803_q/mode/2up.

Table of Contents About the Book Texts Translated Quotes

• Template:'''PART 1'''

• LIST OF MAIN SANSKRIT AND TIBETAN SOURCES WITH SIGLA OF ABBREVIATED TITLES xi

• SECTION I
• AN OUTLINE OF THE EARLIER HISTORY OF THE TIBETAN MADHYAMAKA (DBU MA) FROM ITS ORIGINS IN THE EIGHTH CENTURY TO THE BEGINNING OF ITS 'CLASSICAL PERIOD' IN THE EARLY FIFTEENTH CENTURY 1
  • 1. PERIODIZATION IN THE HISTORY OF MADHYAMAKA THOUGHT IN TIBET 1
  • 2. THE TRANSMISSION TO TIBET OF THE MAIN INDIAN SOURCES OF THE MADHYAMAKA 9
  • 3. EARLY TIBETAN DOXOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS OF THE MADHYAMAKA 23
  • 4. THE INDIGENOUS TIBETAN SOURCES OF THE MADHYAMAKA BEGINNING IN THE ELEVENTH CENTURY 26
    • 4.1. THE ANTECEDENTS OF THE TIBETAN RAN RGYUD PA ('SVĀTANTRIKA') TRADITION IN THE EARLIER phyi dar PERIOD 27
    • 4.2. THE ANTECEDENTS OF THE TIBETAN THAL 'GYUR BA ('PRĀSANGIKA') TRADITION IN THE EARLIER phyi dar PERIOD 41
    • 4.3. DOXOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS OF THE MADHYAMAKA IN THE EARLIER phyi dar PERIOD AND THEIR TIBETAN REPRESENTATIVES 55
  • 5. THE Ratnagotravibhāga-Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra, THE gŽan stoṅ AND THE 'THEORY OF THE HVA ŠAṄ' IN RELATION TO MADHYAMAKA SCHOOL TRADITIONS 72
  • 6. TSOṄ KHA PA'S ARRIVAL AT HIS MADHYAMAKA THEORY 88

• SECTION II
• THESES, PHILOSOPHICAL POSITIONS AND CONTENTION IN MADHYAMAKA THOUGHT 105
  • 1. THE PROBLEM 105
  • 2. THE THESIS AND ASSERTION WITH NĀGĀRJUNA, ĀRYA-DEVA AND CANDRAKĪRTI 115
  • 3. Dṛṣṭi AND darśana AND THE EXPRESSION avācaka 133
  • 4. THE PROCEDURE OF APAGOGIC AND MAIEUTICAL prasaṅgāpādana AND THE QUESTION OF vitaṇḍā 136
  • 5. ASSERTION, DISCURSIVITY, FREEDOM FROM EXTREME POSITIONS AND THE 'TETRALEMMA' (catuṣkoṭi) 139
  • 6. NON-CONTENTIOUSNESS, PHILOSOPHICAL EIRENICISM AND THEIR ETHICAL AND SOTERIOLOGICAL DIMENSIONS 148
  • 7. THE avyākṛtavastus AND THE ĀRYAN SILENCE 152
  • 8. Pakṣa, abhyupagama AND prasaṅga IN THE MADHYAMAKA ACCORDING TO JAYĀNANDA 156
  • 9. THE THESIS ACCORDING TO PA TSHAB ÑI MA GRAGS 159
  • 10. THE THESIS ACCORDING TO KHu MDO SDE 'BAR 161
  • 11. THE THESIS ACCORDING TO RMA BY A BYAṄ CHUB YE ŠES AND RMA BYA BYAṄ CHUB BRTSON 'GRUS 163
  • 12. THE THESIS ACCORDING TO SA SKY A PAṆḌI TA 169
  • 13. THE THESIS ACCORDING TO DBUS PA BLO GSAL 172
  • 14. THESIS, ASSERTION AND PHILOSOPHICAL POSITION ACCORDING TO MKHAS GRUB RJE 173
  • 15. THE QUESTION OF THE THESIS IN TSOṄ KHA PA's Lam rim chen mo AND IN 'JAM DBYAṄS BŽAD PA'S COMMENTS 187
  • 16. THE APPLICATION OF POSITIVE DETERMINATION (pariccheda) AND NEGATIVE DETERMINATION (vyavaccheda) IN TSOṄ KHA PA'S Draṅ ṅes legs Mad sñiṅ po 195
  • 17. NOTES ON SOME LATER TIBETAN SCHOLARS' VIEWS ON THE THESIS, ASSERTION AND DISCURSIVITY 199
  • 18. SOME THEORETICAL ISSUES IN PHILOSOPHICAL AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 207
  • 19. SOME LOGICAL, EPISTEMOLOGICAL AND SEMIOTIC ISSUES IN A MODERN PERSPECTIVE 219
  • 20. CONCLUSION 228

• SECTION III
• ON EPISTEMOLOGICAL-LOGICAL (pramāṇa) THEORY AND THE ONTIC IN TSOṄ KHA PA'S MADHY AMAKA PHILOSOPHY 233
• 1. INTRODUCTION 233
• 2. SOME FUNDAMENTAL LOGICAL AND EPISTEMOLOGICAL ISSUES IN MADHYAMAKA: prayoga(vākya) VS. prasaṅga AND THE PROBLEM OF pramāṇa IN RELATION TO prameya 240
• 3. THE STATUS OF THE THESIS (pratijñā) IN THE MADHYAMAKA 244
• 247
• 5. Svatantra-anumāna AS PROBATIVE INFERENCE, prasaṅgāpādana AS APAGOGIC REASONING, AND THE PROBLEM OF MUTUAL AGREEMENT (ubhaya[pra]siddhatva) 250
• 6. Prasaṅgavākya, prakṛtārthaviparyaya, prasaṅgaviparītārthāpatti AND THE USE OF prasajya-pratiṣedha IN THE prasaṅga-STATEMENT OF NON-ORIGINATION IN THE MADHYAMAKA 252
• 7. TSOṄ KHA PA ON bzlog don AND thal bzlog: prasaṅga-REVERSAL (prasaṅgaviparīta) AND prasaṅga-CONTRAPOSITION (prasaṅgaviparyaya) 257
• 7. TSOṄ KHA PA ON bzlog don AND thal bzlog: prasaṅga-REVERSAL (prasaṅgaviparīta) AND prasaṅga-CONTRAPOSITION (prasaṅgaviparyaya) 257
• 8. Prasaṅgāpādana (thal ba (b]sgmb pa ~ thal ba 'phen pa) AS A SPECIAL FORM OF INFERENCE ACCORDING TO TSOṄ KHA PA 266
• 9. ON REFUTATION (dūṣaṇa) AND PROOF (sādhana) WITH CANDRAKĪRTI AND TSOṄ KHA PA 269
• 10. Pramāṇa-THEORY, ERROR AND ASCERTAINMENT IN TSOṄ KHA PA's MADHYAMAKA THOUGHT 272
• 11. THE LOGICAL-EPISTEMOLOGICAL AND ONTIC STATUS OF THE PRĀSAṄGIKA's paraprasiddha-ARGUMENT ACCORDING TO TSOṄ KHA PA 282
• 12. THE paraprasiddha-anumāna AND THE prasaṅgāpādana AS pramāṇa AND AS MAIEUTICS 286
• 13. THE PROCEDURES OF vyavaccheda AND pariccheda IN MADHYAMAKA THOUGHT 287
• 14. THE USE OF THE bādhakapramāṇa AND CONTRAPOSITION IN ATTAINING THE MADHYAMAKA THEORY OF NON-SUBSTANTIALITY (niḥsvabhāvatā) 288
• 15. CONCLUSION 296

• INDICES
• INDEX OF MAIN INDIAN AND TIBETAN PERSONAL NAMES 305
• INDEX OF SELECTED PLACE NAMES 310
• INDEX OF SELECTED INDIAN TEXTS 310
• INDEX OF SELECTED TIBETAN TEXTS 311
• INDEX OF MAIN SANSKRIT KEY-TERMS 312
• INDEX OF MAIN TIBETAN KEY-TERMS 318

• {{|PART 2|}}

• LIST OF MAIN SANSKRIT AND TIBETAN SOURCES WITH SIGLA OF ABBREVIATED TITLES xi

• SECTION I
• CANDRAKĪRTI'S PRASANNAPADĀ MADHYAMAKAVRTTIH ON NĀGĀRJUNA'S MADHYAMAKĀKARIKĀ I.1 1
  • INTRODUCTION 3
  • TRANSLATION 17

• SECTION II
• A SUMMARY-MEMORANDUM ON EIGHT CRUCIAL POINTS IN THE MADHYAMAKA, THE PROVISIONAL AND DEFINITIVE MEANINGS AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EMPTINESS AND ORIGINATION IN DEPENDENCE: TSON KHA PA / RGYAL TSHAB DAR MA RIN CHEN'S dKa' gnad/ gnas brgyad kyi zin bris 137
  • INTRODUCTION 139
    • 1. THE dKa' gnad/gnas brgyad kyi zin bris 139
    • 2. THE EIGHT CRUCIAL POINTS (dka' gnad/gnas brgyad) IN MADHYAMAKA THOUGHT 142
    • 3. THE VERSIONS OF THE dKa gnad/ gnas brgyad kyi zin bris AND ITS AUTHORSHIP 151
  • TRANSLATION 157
    • INTRODUCTION 157
    • THE EIGHT CRUCIAL POINTS 159
      • 1. Non-acceptance of an ālaya(vijñāna) , and the problem of what has perished (žig pa) 159
        • 1.1 Argument for an ālayavijñāna 159
        • 1.2 Counter-arguments 160
      • 2. Non-acceptance of a self-characteristic (raṅ gi mtshan ñid: *svalakṣaṇa) even in transactional-pragmatic usage (vyavahāra) 168
        • 2.1 The definitional referents (mtshan gzi equals lakṣaṇa) of the two satyas 182
        • 2.2 The defining characteristics (mtshan gzi equals lakṣaṇa) of the two satyas 188
        • 2.3 The pramāṇa for ascertainment 193
          • 2.3.1 The ascertainment of the lakṣaṇa of the paramārthasatya 193
          • 2.3.2 The ascertainment of the lakṣaṇa of the saṃvṛtisatya 194
          • 2.3.3 The distinction between saṃvṛtisatya and saṃvṛtimātra 194
        • 2.4 Seeing reality (tattva) in the concentrated (knowledge) (mñam gžag: samāhita(jñāna)) of the Ārya 200
      • 3. Acceptance of an external object (bāhyārtha, bahirartha) in transactional-pragmatic usage (vyavahāra) 202
      • 4. Non-acceptance of the autonomous (svatantraliṅga/svatantrahetu/svatantrānumāna) 208
        • 4.1 The general systematic institution of the autonomous (svatantra) and of that which is acknowledged by another (paraprasiddha) 208
        • 4.2 The (Prāsaṅgika) position (pakṣa) on the correctness of not accepting the autonomous 214
      • 5. Non-acceptance of self-cognition (svasaṃvedana, svasaṃvitti) 220
        • 5.1 Exposition of the opponent's position accepting self-cognition 222
        • 5.2 Demonstration that this acceptance of self-cognition is incorrect 223
        • 5.3 Setting out our own doctrine (svamata) 225
      • 6. The doctrine that for the Śrāvaka and Pratyekabuddha there exists (potentially) the understanding that things (dharma) are without self-nature (niḥsvabhāva) 227
      • 7. The two obscurations (āvaraṇa) 234
        • 7.1 Doctrine of the advocates of Cittamātra following āgama and yukti 234
        • 7.2 Doctrine of the Mādhyamikas 236
          • 7.2.1 Incorrectness of the Svātantrika doctrine 237
            • 7.2.1.1 Its rejection 237
            • 7.2.1.2 The reason for the occurring faults 238
          • 7.2.2 Rejection of Bhā(va)viveka/Bhavya's defence 238
          • 7.2.3 The Prāsaṅgika doctrine 239
          • 7.2.4 Objections against the Prāsaṅgika doctrine and replies 247
      • 8. The modality of a Buddha's knowledge in extension (ji sñed pa mkhyen pa 'i tshul: yāvadbhāvikatā) 251

• • • • (9.) On the provisional meaning requiring to be elicited (neyārtha) and the definitive meaning (nītārtha) of scripture 257
        • (9.)1 Doctrine of the advocates of the Cittamātra following the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra 258
          • (9.)1.1 The Bodhisattva Paramarthasamudgata's question 259
          • (9.)1.2 The Lord's reply 260
            • (9.)1.2.1 The intent (dgoṅs pa equals abhiprāya) of declaring things to be niḥsvabhāva260
              • (9.)1.2.1.1 The intended ground (dgoṅs gži): the three niḥsvabhāvatās and the three lakṣaṇas260
              • (9.)1.2.1.2 The reasons and examples for declaring things to be niḥsvabhāva260
            • (9.)1.2.2 The intent of declaring things to be anutpanna, aniruddha, ādiśānta and prakṛtiparinirvṛta262
            • (9.)1.2.2 The intent of declaring things to be anutpanna, aniruddha, ādiśānta and prakṛtiparinirvṛta262
            • 263
          • (9.)1.3 The Bodhisattva Paramārthasamudgata' s respectful submission concerning the sense of the Lord's reply264
          • (9.)1.4 How the provisional and definitive meanings are thereby established, with a note on the tathāgatagarbha teaching265
        • (9.)2 Doctrine of the Mādhyamikas following the Akṣayamatinirdeśasūtra266
          • (9.)2.1 The provisional meaning ('neyārtha) and the definitive meaning (nītārtha)266
          • (9.)2.2 Distinction between the two meanings268
            • (9.)2.2.1 Declaration relating to lakṣaṇa, and the trainee-disciple (vineya)268
            • (9.)2.2.2 Declaration relating to lakṣya269
          • (9.)2.3 Defining characteristics of the neyārtha and the nītārtha269
      • (10.) Origination in dependence (pratītyasamutpāda) and emptiness (śūnyatā) 271

• • • • (Colophon) 280

• INDICES
• INDEX OF MAIN INDIAN AND TIBETAN PERSONAL NAMES 281
• INDEX OF SELECTED INDIAN TEXTS 283
• INDEX OF SELECTED TIBETAN TEXTS 284
• INDEX OF MAIN SANSKRIT KEY-TERMS 284
• INDEX OF MAIN TIBETAN KEY-TERMS 294

1. A study on Madhyamaka philosophy. See Part 2 of the work, which contains 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).

Madhyamaka - Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. Skt. मध्यमक Tib. དབུ་མ་ Ch. 中觀見

pramāṇa - In the Buddhist literature on pramāṇa, it refers to cognition that correctly apprehends its object without any deception or mistake. Such correct cognition include direct perception and inferential cognition. Skt. प्रमान Tib. ཚད་མ། Ch. 量