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111-589: The classic shentong view was developed and defended by the Jonang school of Tibetan Buddhism, especially by the great scholar Dölpopa Shérap Gyeltsen (1292–1361). The view also has precursors in some Indian Buddhist works, such as the Ratnagotravibhāga and the writings of Indian figures like Ratnākaraśānti and Sajjana. Classic Jonang shentong holds that while all relative phenomena are empty of inherent existence ( svabhava ), ultimate reality ( paramartha-satya )

222-713: A kumbum or stupa-vihara in the Jomonang Valley about 160 kilometres (99 mi) northwest of the Tashilhunpo Monastery in Ü-Tsang (modern Shigatse ). The Jonang tradition took its name from this "Jomonang" monastery, where Tsöndrü established a practice tradition that integrated seventeen different transmission of the Kālacakra Tantra completion stage yogas, and which was significantly expanded by later figures, including Dolpopa . The Jonang tradition combines two specific teachings, what has come to be known as

333-466: A neo-Kantian and thus making ultimate truth a metaphysical noumenon or an "ineffable ultimate that transcends the capacities of discursive reason", others such as Mark Siderits and Jay L. Garfield have argued that Nāgārjuna's view is that "the ultimate truth is that there is no ultimate truth" (Siderits) and that Nāgārjuna is a "semantic anti-dualist" who posits that there are only conventional truths. Hence according to Garfield: Suppose that we take

444-709: A Jonang monastery (now known as the Main Takten Phuntsok Choeling Monastery) and has visited during one of his recent teaching tours. The Karmapa of the Karma Kagyu lineage has also visited. The Jonang tradition has been actively petitioning for the past 20+ years to the Tibetan Government in exile, requesting them to recognize the Jonang as the sixth living Buddhist tradition of Tibetan Buddhism , and seek equal religious rights and representation to

555-565: A commentary on the Ratnagotravibhāga, states: [Beings are endowed with] the heart of a tathāgata, because the disposition for the [tathāgata] exists [in them]. The suchness of the dhātu is devoid of what is afflicted—the dependent ( paratantra ). According to Jamgon Kongtrul's Treasury of Knowledge , shentong is associated with the "third wheel" of Dharma , the highest intention of the Buddha, which can be found in various Indian sources like

666-456: A kind of ontological anti-foundationalism or a metaphysical anti-realism . Understanding the nature of the emptiness of phenomena is simply a means to an end, which is nirvana . Thus Nāgārjuna's philosophical project is ultimately a soteriological one meant to correct our everyday cognitive processes which mistakenly posits svabhāva on the flow of experience. Some scholars such as Fyodor Shcherbatskoy and T.R.V. Murti held that Nāgārjuna

777-871: A minority and largely unrecognized movement within the fold of nikāya Buddhism." By the second century, early Mahāyāna Sūtras such as the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā were already circulating among certain Mahāyāna circles. Very little is reliably known of the life of Nāgārjuna and modern historians do not agree on a specific date (1st to 3rd century CE) or place (multiple places in India suggested) for him. The earliest surviving accounts were written in Chinese and Tibetan centuries after his death and are mostly hagiographical accounts that are historically unverifiable. Some scholars such as Joseph Walser argue that Nāgārjuna

888-451: A naga can be a symbol of a realised arhat or wise person. Traditional sources also claim that Nāgārjuna practised ayurvedic alchemy ( rasayāna ). Kumārajīva's biography for example, has Nāgārjuna making an elixir of invisibility, and Bus-ton, Taranatha and Xuanzang all state that he could turn rocks into gold. Tibetan hagiographies also state that Nāgārjuna studied at Nālanda University. However, according to Walser, this university

999-529: A permanent and eternal substance ( svabhava ) because, like a dream, they are mere projections of human consciousness. Since these imaginary fictions are experienced, they are not mere names ( prajnapti ) ." According to David Seyfort Ruegg , the Madhyamakasastrastuti attributed to Candrakirti ( c.  600 – c. 650) refers to eight texts by Nagarjuna: the (Madhyamaka)karikas , the Yuktisastika ,

1110-473: A refutation of Jonang Kalachakra which led to further debates and counter-refutations by Jonang scholars like Jangchup Senge, although Rendawa's later writings moderated and were more balanced in their treatment of the Jonang Kalachakra. The great fourteenth-century Sakya master Buton Rinchen Drub (1290–1364) was also very critical of shentong views, although he was unwilling to directly debate Dölpopa on

1221-566: A revival in the modern era during the Rime period. Important modern Jonang scholars include Bamda Gelek Gyatso (1844–1904), Tsoknyi Gyatso (1880–1940), Ngawang Lodro Drakpa (1920–75), Kunga Tukje Palsang (1925–2000) and Ngawang Yonten Sangpo (1928–2002). Modern Jonang figures also had close relationships with masters of the non-sectarian (Rime) movement such as Jamgon Kongtrul (1813–1899) and Patrul Rinpoche (1808–1887) and these Rime figures also visited and studied at Dzamtang . Until recently little

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1332-525: A revival of shentong, particularly within the non-sectarian Rimé movement . Nowadays, classic shentong remains the main philosophical theory of the Jonang school, and various other forms of shentong are also taught by some lamas of the Kagyu, Sakya , and Nyingma schools. Samding Dorje Phagmo Shentong ( Tibetan : གཞན་སྟོང་ , Wylie : gzhan stong , Lhasa dialect : [ɕɛ̃̀tṍŋ] , also transliterated zhäntong or zhentong ; literally "other-emptiness")

1443-460: A self-nature (svabhava) in both the relative and absolute sense. The term rangtong is often used by defenders of the shentong view to refer to the views of those who reject the view of shentong, such as Tsongkhapa (1357–1419). What makes "rangtong" a different view is that it rejects the idea that there is anything (even Buddhahood ) that is not empty of essential nature (svabhava) and as such, all phenomena only exist dependently (even nirvana and

1554-452: A single, coherent philosophical system," and are attributed to Nagarjuna by a variety of Indian and Tibetan sources. The Tibetan historian Buston considers the first six to be the main treatises of Nāgārjuna (this is called the "yukti corpus", rigs chogs ), while according to Tāranātha only the first five are the works of Nāgārjuna. TRV Murti considers Ratnāvalī , Pratītyasamutpādahṝdaya and Sūtrasamuccaya to be works of Nāgārjuna as

1665-778: A thirty-year period at the end of the second century in the Andhra region around Dhanyakataka (modern-day Amaravati )." According to Walser, "the earliest extant legends about Nāgārjuna are compiled into Kumārajīva ’s biography of Nāgārjuna, which he translated into Chinese in about 405 CE." According to this biography, Nāgārjuna was born into a Brahmin family and later became a Buddhist. The traditional religious hagiographies place Nāgārjuna in various regions of India (Kumārajīva and Candrakirti place him in Vidarbha region of South India, Xuanzang in south Kosala ) Traditional religious hagiographies credit Nāgārjuna with being associated with

1776-413: A unique view of shentong in his Lion’s Roar of Shentong. However, in spite of this non-sectarian activity, Mipham was clear that his philosophy was ultimately prasangika madhyamaka. In spite of this, at least one of Mipham's students was a known shentongpa, Shechen Gyaltsab Padma Namgyal (1871–1926), who was the root lama of Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and also a lama of Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö . In

1887-445: A useful summary of this tradition, see Wedemeyer 2007. Lindtner sees the author of some of these tantric works as being a tantric Nagarjuna who lives much later, sometimes called "Nagarjuna II". Nāgārjuna's major thematic focus is the concept of śūnyatā (translated into English as "emptiness") which brings together other key Buddhist doctrines, particularly anātman "not-self" and pratītyasamutpāda "dependent origination", to refute

1998-588: A view similar to shentong. This view is an alternate interpretation of the yogacara model of the three natures which states that the perfected nature is empty of both the imaginary nature and the dependent nature. This view is found in the Bṛhaṭṭīkā (a Prajñāpāramitā commentary which comments on the ‘Maitreya Chapter’ in the Large Prajñāpāramitāsūtra ), the Bhagavatyāmnāyānusāriṇī (a commentary on

2109-485: A young boy named Zanabazar , the son of Tüsheet Khan , Prince of Central Khalkha. Tüsheet Khan and his son were of Borjigin lineage (the imperial clan of Genghis Khan and his successors), meaning they had the birth authority to become khagan . When the young boy was declared the spiritual leader of all of Mongolia , suddenly the Gelugpa were faced with the possibility of war with the former military superpower of Asia. While

2220-714: Is "a great variety of ways in which different Tibetan masters understand this term and how they formulate the associated view." Brunnhölzl mentions a text by the twentieth-century Kagyü scholar Surmang Padma Namgyal, which includes seven main forms of shentong: Brunnhölzl adds that the various views listed here are based on three different understandings of the terms rangtong and shentong . As Brunnhölzl writes, "the first—and most common—category takes rangtong and shentong to refer to phenomena as belonging to two different levels of reality (seeming and ultimate), which underlies views (1)–(5). The second category refers to rangtong and shentong as two approaches to conceptually determine

2331-636: Is Nāgārjuna's best-known work. It is "not only a grand commentary on the Buddha's discourse to Kaccayana , the only discourse cited by name, but also a detailed and careful analysis of most of the important discourses included in the Nikayas and the Agamas , especially those of the Atthakavagga of the Sutta-nipata . Utilizing the Buddha's theory of "dependent arising" ( pratitya-samutpada ) , Nagarjuna demonstrated

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2442-497: Is a Tibetan Buddhist philosophical view. It applies the Mahayana theory of emptiness in a specific way. While shentong sees relative reality as empty of self-nature, it argues that absolute reality ( paramarthasatya ) is a positive "non-dual buddhajñana" which is only "empty" ( Wylie : stong ) of "other," ( Wylie : gzhan ) relative phenomena ( dharmas ). This positive ultimate reality (the buddha-nature, tathagatagarbha, or Dharmadhatu )

2553-536: Is all pervading, like space. This is said to "exist as ultimate reality" but it is not said to be "really established, permanent, enduring, and totally unchanging." This is the view also defended by the Chödrak Gyatso (1454–1506), the Seventh Karmapa, in his Ocean of Texts on Reasoning, who also argues that "rangtong and shentong are not contradictory" . The Seventh Karmapa held that the buddha-nature taught in

2664-478: Is because ultimate reality is a stream of luminosity ( prabhāsvara - saṃtāna ), endowed with limitless Buddha qualities. It is empty of all that is false, not empty of the limitless Buddha qualities that are its innate nature. The key figure in Jonang is Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (1292–1361), a great yogi and scholar who widely promoted the philosophy of shentong . He was initially educated at Sakya monastery , and he also studied Kagyu and Nyingma lineages. He

2775-399: Is being empty of self-nature. Because the original absolute that is empty of those relative phenomena is never nonexistent, it is empty of other. This "other-empty" (shentong) absolute reality is the "all-basis wisdom" or "gnosis of the ground of all" ( kun gzhi ye shes , Skt. ālaya-jñāna) which is "uncreated and indestructible, unconditioned and beyond the chain of dependent origination " and

2886-593: Is empty of the form that appears as the aspect of an object that is conceived as form. It is therefore that it is called "empty." Furthermore, the Bṛhaṭṭīkā states that "being empty means being devoid of what is other" ( *pararahita; gzhan bral ). The Prajñāpāramitā commentaries like the Bṛhaṭṭīkā also state that the perfected nature is a naturally luminous mind which is unchanging, and free of adventitious stains. Brunnhölzl also writes that Jñānaśrīmitra’s Sākārasiddhiśāstra also promotes similar ideas. Another Indian source, Sajjana's Mahāyānottaratantraśāstropadeśa,

2997-590: Is free of all extremes is immanent in all consciousnesses. Furthermore, for Kongtrül, this non-dual primordial wisdom is truly established, otherwise the ultimate reality would be a kind of nothingness. One popular living exponent of Kagyu shentong is Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso, and his view is taught in Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness, translated by his student Lama Shenpen Hookham . In this work, Khenpo Tsültrim presents five stages of meditation (related to different schools or approaches), culminating in

3108-454: Is most likely that when Nāgārjuna wrote the Ratnavali , he lived in a mixed monastery (with Mahāyānists and non-Mahāyānists) in which Mahāyānists were the minority. The most likely sectarian affiliation of the monastery according to Walser was Purvasailya, Aparasailya, or Caityaka (which were Mahāsāṃghika sub-schools). He also argues that "it is plausible that he wrote the Ratnavali within

3219-522: Is not empty of its own inherent existence. In this view, ultimate reality, the buddha-wisdom ( buddha-jñana ) or buddha-nature ( buddhadhātu ), is only empty of relative and defiled phenomena, but it is not empty of its countless awakened qualities. Tibetan defenders of shentong, like Dölpopa, describe opposing views on emptiness and Madhyamaka as rangtong ("empty of self", "self-empty"). These views generally hold that all phenomena (relative and ultimate) are equally empty of inherent existence and thus have

3330-708: Is not empty of its own nature (as the expanse endowed with all buddha qualities). Thus, Dölpopa distinguishes between two different modes of emptiness, one which applies to relative truth and another which applies to the ultimate. Dölpopa writes: Because all that is present as the two modes of emptiness are equal in being emptiness, there are statements with the single phrase, "All is emptiness," but there are also statements that distinguish between empty of self-nature and empty of other. So their intent should also be precisely presented. Concerning that, because relative and incidental entities are completely nonexistent in their true mode of existence, they are empty of own-essence. That

3441-407: Is not empty of its own nature, and is thus "truly existing." Another English translation of shentong is "extrinsic emptiness." Shentong was also called "Great Mādhyamaka" ( dbu ma chen po ), a term which has also been used by other figures to refer to their Madhyamaka views, like Longchenpa and Mipham . The term rangtong ( Tibetan : རང་སྟོང་ , Wylie : rang stong ; "empty of self-nature")

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3552-601: Is not when one subjects it to such analysis." Dölpopa states that this ultimate reality is the same as "the reflections of the emptiness endowed with all supreme aspects" (sarvākāravaropetāśūnyatā) taught in the Kālacakra, which is an emptiness endowed with awakened qualities. Dölpopa referred to another view he termed "rangtong" (self-empty). This was the mainstream interpretation of emptiness and madhyamaka in Tibetan Buddhism, which held that all phenomena (dharmas) are empty of

3663-445: Is particularly used to refer to the impure mental defilements and worldly thoughts which veil the ultimate buddha-nature. It is also associated with the ālāyavijñāna (Tib. kun gzhi rnam shes ). Dölpopa compares the pure all-basis wisdom or buddha-nature with a clear sky, while the impure relative phenomena are compared to clouds which only temporarily obscure it. According to Dölpopa, the tathāgatagarbha (buddha-nature, synonymous with

3774-604: Is the Shih-erh-men-lun or 'Twelve-topic treatise' (* Dvadasanikaya or * Dvadasamukha-sastra ); one of the three basic treatises of the Sanlun school ( East Asian Madhyamaka ). Several works considered important in esoteric Buddhism are attributed to Nāgārjuna and his disciples by traditional historians like Tāranātha from 17th century Tibet. These historians try to account for chronological difficulties with various theories, such as seeing later writings as mystical revelations. For

3885-444: Is the basis for both samsara and nirvana. According to Stearns, Dölpopa also considers this absolute as "natural luminosity (which is synonymous with the dharmakaya) and a primordial, indestructible, eternal great bliss inherently present in every living being." The relative reality (which is empty of itself, i.e. rangtong ) refers to the impermanent phenomena which arise and cease and are dependent on causes and conditions. This

3996-484: The Aṣṭasāhasrikā ) , as well as in some texts by Ratnākaraśānti , which also state that the perfected nature is the buddha-nature. The Bṛhaṭṭīkā states that the perfected nature (here called dharmata-form) is empty of the dependent nature (here called "what is conceived") and the imaginary nature: Here, what is the perfect [nature] - dharmata-form - [is empty of] characteristics such as existing as imaginary form and

4107-503: The Dharmadhātustava ). The Ratnagotravibhāga's statement that "the true end is void of conditioned phenomena in all aspects" is a key source for shentong reasoning. The same text also contains a key passage which states: "the basic element is empty of what is adventitious, which has the characteristic of being separable. It is not empty of the unsurpassable attributes, which have the characteristic of being inseparable." In developing

4218-553: The Dà zhìdù lùn ( Taisho 1509, "Commentary on the great prajñaparamita ") which has been influential in Chinese Buddhism, has been questioned as a genuine work of Nāgārjuna by various scholars including Lamotte . This work is also only attested in a Chinese translation by Kumārajīva and is unknown in the Tibetan and Indian traditions. Other works are extant only in Chinese, one of these

4329-528: The Mūlamadhyamakakārikā provides one of Nāgārjuna's most famous quotations on emptiness and co-arising: sarvaṃ ca yujyate tasya śūnyatā yasya yujyate sarvaṃ na yujyate tasya śūnyaṃ yasya na yujyate All is possible when emptiness is possible. Nothing is possible when emptiness is impossible. As part of his analysis of the emptiness of phenomena in the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā , Nāgārjuna critiques svabhāva in several different concepts. He discusses

4440-1123: The Bhavasamkranti, and the Dasabhumtkavibhāsā. Furthermore, Ruegg writes that "three collections of stanzas on the virtues of intelligence and moral conduct ascribed to Nagarjuna are extant in Tibetan translation": Prajñasatakaprakarana , Nitisastra-Jantuposanabindu and Niti-sastra-Prajñadanda. Meanwhile, those texts that Lindtner considers as questionable and likely inauthentic are: Aksarasataka, Akutobhaya (Mulamadhyamakavrtti), Aryabhattaraka-Manjusriparamarthastuti, Kayatrayastotra, Narakoddharastava, Niruttarastava, Vandanastava, Dharmasamgraha, Dharmadhatugarbhavivarana, Ekaslokasastra, Isvarakartrtvanirakrtih (A refutation of God/Isvara), Sattvaradhanastava, Upayahrdaya, Astadasasunyatasastra, Dharmadhatustava, Yogaratnamala. Meanwhile, Lindtner's list of outright wrong attributions is: Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa (Dà zhìdù lùn), Abudhabodhakaprakarana , Guhyasamajatantratika , Dvadasadvaraka , Prajñaparamitastotra, and Svabhavatrayapravesasiddhi. Notably,

4551-686: The Great Seal and the Great Perfection ." However, other Nyingmas, particularly those associated with the Kathok Monastery , hold shentong views closer to those of the Jonang, with Getsé Mahāpaṇḍita stating that "The abiding mode of the Great Perfection singlely accords with the Great Middle Way of other-emptiness." As Karl Brunnhölzl notes, there is no single shentong view, rather there

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4662-630: The Mahāyāna movement. His Mūlamadhyamakakārikā ( Root Verses on Madhyamaka , MMK) is the most important text on the Madhyamaka philosophy of emptiness . The MMK inspired a large number of commentaries in Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, Korean and Japanese and continues to be studied today. India in the first and second centuries CE was politically divided into various states, including the Kushan Empire and

4773-574: The Mongol Empire was long past its zenith, this was nonetheless a frightening prospect and the Dalai Lama sought the first possible moment of Mongol distraction to take control of the Jonang monasteries. As a result of the suppression of Jonang, the writings of Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen and even those of Sakya proponents of shentong (like Sakya Chokden ) were sealed and banned from publication and study. Jonang monasteries were also gradually converted to

4884-589: The Satavahana Kingdom . At this point in Buddhist history , the Buddhist community was already divided into various Buddhist schools and had spread throughout India. At this time, there was already a small and nascent Mahāyāna movement. Mahāyāna ideas were held by a minority of Buddhists in India at the time. As Joseph Walser writes, "Mahāyāna before the fifth century was largely invisible and probably existed only as

4995-907: The Seventh Karmapa , the Eighth Karmapa , the Thirteenth Karmapa , the Fifth Shamarpa , the Eighth Situpa Situ Panchen, and Jamgön Kongtrul. Shentong views have also been defended by recent Kagyu Lamas like Kalu Rinpoche , Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche and Thrangu Rinpoche . The view of shentong upheld by the Karmapas, the traditional heads of the Karma Kagyü school, is a view which synthesizes prasangika madhyamaka with shentong ideas. According to Karl Brunnhölzl Rangjung Dorje ,

5106-661: The Sunyatasaptati , the Vigrahavyavartani , the Vidala (i.e. Vaidalyasutra/Vaidalyaprakarana ), the Ratnavali , the Sutrasamuccaya , and Samstutis (Hymns). This list covers not only much less than the grand total of works ascribed to Nagarjuna in the Chinese and Tibetan collections, but it does not even include all such works that Candrakirti has himself cited in his writings. According to one view, that of Christian Lindtner,

5217-604: The philosophy known as shentong ("empty of other"). After a period of influence, the Jonang tradition suffered a series of reversals, partly due to its suppression by the politically dominant Gelug school under the Fifth Dalai Lama in the 17th century . Jonang did survive in Amdo , from which they eventually re-established themselves in other regions like Golok , Nakhi , and Kham . They have continued practicing uninterrupted to this day. An estimated 5,000 monks and nuns of

5328-410: The "Great Madhyamaka" shentong teachings of the third turning. Thus, Dölpopa did not completely reject the rangtong view, he merely saw it as the lower and incomplete view of the second turning of the wheel of Dharma. According to Dölpopa, rangtong teachings were teachings of provisional meaning, while shentong teachings were the final and definitive teachings. Dölpopa also held that the ultimate intent of

5439-469: The 15th century, shentong had become accepted by some figures in the Sakya and Kagyu schools. Sakya scholar Shakya Chokden (1428–1507), Shakya's teacher Rongton, and Chödrak Gyatso, 7th Karmapa Lama (1454–1506, who was a student of Shakya Chokden), were all proponents of a shentong view, though they had their own unique interpretations of shentong that are not identical to the stronger Jonang form of shentong. In

5550-624: The Bon, Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu and Gelug. The 14th Dalai Lama assigned Jebtsundamba Khutuktu of Mongolia (who is considered by the Gelug tradition to be an incarnation of Tāranātha) as the leader of the Jonang tradition. More recently, the Jonang school has been growing in the West (led by teachers like Khentrul Jamphel Lodrö Rinpoché and Khenpo Chokyi Nangwa ) and among the Chinese (led by teachers like Tulku Jamyang Lodrö and mKhan po Chos kyi dbang phyug). Much of

5661-622: The Buddhas "by implying that sentient beings are completely perfect buddhas." Similarly, the Thirteenth Karmapa, Düdül Dorje (1733–1797) states: both the middle and the final wheel [of dharma] have the purport of the sugata heart, the unity of emptiness and luminosity. The middle [wheel] explains this mainly by teaching emptiness, while the final [wheel] elucidates it mainly by teaching luminosity. I understand that, in actuality, these are not contradictory. The currently popularity of shentong in

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5772-417: The Gelug lineage by the political authorities. The 14th Dalai Lama has also said that the main reason for the suppression of Jonang was political, not religious sectarianism (since the 5th Dalai Lama was himself a student of numerous lineages, including Bon ). The Jonang tradition was able to survive in Amdo where a couple of monasteries had been founded in ’Dzam thang and rGyal rong. From here Jonang

5883-568: The Gelug school, as well as banning shentong philosophy and books, thus making the rangtong position the overwhelmingly majority one in Tibetan Buddhism. The texts of Shakya Chokden, which promoted shentong and criticized Tsongkhapa, were also banned in the 17th century. After the suppression of the Jonang school and its texts and the texts of Śākya Chokden by the Tibetan government in the seventeenth century, various shentong views were propagated mainly by Karma Kagyu and Nyingma lamas. Key figures of this revival include Katok Tsewang Norbu (1698–1755),

5994-1086: The Great Compassion of the Tathagata, also known as the Dhāraṇīśvararāja ), Mahāmegha sūtra (Sutra of the Great Cloud), the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra , the “Maitreya Chapter” (found in two versions of the Tibetan Large Prajñaparamita ), the Pañcaśatikāprajñāpāramitā ( Perfection of Wisdom in 500 Lines ), the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra , the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra , and the Buddhāvataṃsakasūtra . Karl Brunnhölzl notes that several Indian sources contain

6105-730: The Jonang tradition practice today in these areas. However, their teachings were limited to these regions until the Rimé movement of the 19th century encouraged the study of non- Gelug traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. The Jonang shentong view was influential on various figures in other Tibetan Buddhist schools, including the 3rd Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339), the eighth Tai Situpa (1700–1774), Katok Tsewang Norbu (1698–1755), Situ Panchen (1700–1774), Jamgön Kongtrül (1813–1899) , Kalu Rinpoche (1905 – 1989), and Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso (1934–2024). The monk Künpang Tukjé Tsöndrü ( Wylie : kun spangs thugs rje brtson 'grus , 1243–1313) established

6216-512: The Jonang tradition, Tāranātha (1575–1635) is second in importance only to Dölpopa himself. He was responsible for the short-lived renaissance of the school as a whole in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, and of the widespread revitalization of the shentong theory in particular. Tāranātha wrote a commentary on the Heart Sutra which asserts that the Sutra, and prajñāpāramitā , teaches

6327-506: The Jonangpa had political ties that were very vexing to the Gelugpa. The Jonang school, along with the Kagyu , were historical allies with the powerful house of Tsangpa , which was vying with the 5th Dalai Lama and the Gelug school for control of Central Tibet . This was bad enough, but soon after the death of Taranatha, an even more ominous event occurred. Taranatha's tulku was discovered to be

6438-450: The Kagyü school is mainly due to the influence of the great scholar Jamgön Kongtrul. Kongtrül held that "Shentong Madhyamaka" was the ultimate meaning of the third turning of the wheel of Dharma and of Nagarjuna's hymns. As such, he saw it as the highest view which presents "the primordial wisdom of emptiness free of elaborations." According to Kongtrül, the very nature of primordial wisdom which

6549-588: The Third Karmapa "is traditionally considered the foremost authority on the view of buddha nature in the Karma Kagyü School." Brunnhölzl notes that his view "neither matches Shentong as understood by Dölpopa, Tāranātha, and other Jonangpas, nor Śākya Chogden’s or Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé’s presentations of it." The Third Karmapa's view is that the dharmakāya is an "unconditioned and spontaneously present mind" which transcends all concepts and reference points and

6660-567: The Tibetan literature of the Jonang has survived, including the Ocean of Definitive Meaning: A Teaching for the Mountain Hermit (commonly referred to as Mountain Dharma ) , an extensive presentation of the ground, path, and fruit from the shentong perspective by Dolpopa. According to Dolpopa, his main sources for the ultimate truth and definitive meaning (nītārtha) are the tathagatagarbha sutras ,

6771-421: The buddha's wisdom). Shentong meanwhile holds that there is something which truly exists in an absolute sense, and this is the Buddha wisdom ( buddhajñana ) or the continuum of luminous mind ( prabhāsvara ). In Jonang shentong, one initially studies rangtong style madhyamaka analysis through the classic Indian Madhyamaka texts (mainly Nagarjuna's Collection of Reasoning), then one goes beyond these teaching using

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6882-555: The development of some of Dölpopa's theories. Dölpopa claimed to have extraordinary insights, and his meditational experience seems to have played a great role in the development of his shentong view. Dölpopa developed a new philosophical vocabulary, based on Sanskrit and Tibetan, to express his insights. He coined new terms including shentong , and khunzhi yeshe ("universal-ground primordial awareness"), and popularized other terms like "Great Madhyamaka". He also made use of terms from Mahayana scriptures which were not in use in Tibet at

6993-433: The development of the two truths doctrine , which claims that there are two levels of truth in Buddhist teaching, the ultimate truth ( paramārtha satya ) and the conventional or superficial truth ( saṃvṛtisatya ). The ultimate truth to Nāgārjuna is the truth that everything is empty of essence, this includes emptiness itself ('the emptiness of emptiness'). While some (Murti, 1955) have interpreted this by positing Nāgārjuna as

7104-440: The dharmadhatu) and a relative reality (all other phenomena). According to this view, the buddha-nature is real (and not empty of inherent existence), while all other phenomena are empty of inherent existence or self-nature ( svabhava ). The ultimate reality is also described as empty, but it is empty in a different way. The absolute reality is "empty" ( Wylie : stong ) only of "other" ( Wylie : gzhan ) relative phenomena, but it

7215-405: The dharmadhātu) refers to the Ratnagotravibhāga's perfections of supreme purity, permanence, self, and bliss. Brunnhölzl writes that for Dölpopa, this buddha-nature "is liberated from all characteristics of reference points, is beyond terms and thoughts, and is the object of unmistaken nonconceptual wisdom. Since it withstands analysis through reasoning, one can only mistake it for something that it

7326-499: The first two are quoted profusely by Chandrakirti and the third by Shantideva . In addition to works mentioned above, numerous other works are attributed to Nāgārjuna, many of which are dubious attributions and later works. There is an ongoing, lively controversy over which of those works are authentic. Christian Lindtner divides the various attributed works as "1) correctly attributed, 2) wrongly attributed to him, and 3) those which may or may not be genuine." Lindtner further divides

7437-563: The following three texts: The Vimalaprabhā (an 11th-century Indian commentary on the Kalacakra tantra ), the Hevajrapiṇḍārthaṭīkā (Toh 1180, a commentary on the Hevajra tantra in 6000 lines), and the Laksabhidhanaduddhrtalaghutantrapindarthavivarana (Toh 1402), a commentary on the Chakrasamvara tantra by Vajrapani. The Jonang tradition also relies on several important Indian and Tibetan śāstras (treatises), including: Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna ( Sanskrit : नागार्जुन, Nāgārjuna ; c.  150  – c.  250 CE )

7548-464: The futility of [...] metaphysical speculations. His method of dealing with such metaphysics is referred to as "middle way" ( madhyama pratipad ). It is the middle way that avoided the substantialism of the Sarvastivadins as well as the nominalism of the Sautrantikas . In the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā , "[A]ll experienced phenomena are empty ( sunya ) . This did not mean that they are not experienced and, therefore, non-existent; only that they are devoid of

7659-428: The head of Katok monastery , and the Kagyu lama Situ Panchen (1700–1774), a senior court chaplain in the Kingdom of Derge , a student of Katok Tsewang Norbu and the 8th Tai Situpa . These two figures were instrumental in the spread of shentong views outside of Jonang. Tsewang Norbu was a student of the Jonang lama Künsang Wangpo, and he introduced shentong and the Kālacakra tantra tradition into Kagyu and Nyingma. He

7770-411: The interpretations of Kongtrul and Mipham) are also taught by some lamas of the Kagyu, Sakya, and Nyingma schools. According to Cyrus Stearns, Kagyu and Nyingma forms of shentong "vary a great deal from the original teachings of Dölpopa" and "represents a synthesis that has developed over time, primarily in order to enable Dölpopa’s most profound insights to be incorporated into the established doctrines of

7881-471: The matter. Gyaltsab Je and Khedrup Gelek Pelzang, 1st Panchen Lama , two of Gelug founder Je Tsongkhapa's primary disciples, were also particularly critical of shentong in the 15th century. Shentong was suppressed by the dominant Gelug school for several hundred years, equally for political reasons as doctrinal reasons. In 1658, the Gelug authorities banned the Jonang school and its texts for political reasons, forcibly converting its monks and monasteries to

7992-618: The medieval period, and the 3rd-4th century inscriptions found at the site make it clear that it was known as "Vijayapuri" in the ancient period. There are a multitude of texts attributed to "Nāgārjuna", many of these texts date from much later periods. This has caused much confusion for the traditional Buddhist biographers and doxographers . Modern scholars are divided on how to classify these later texts and how many later writers called "Nāgārjuna" existed (the name remains popular today in Andhra Pradesh). Some scholars have posited that there

8103-434: The metaphysics of some of his contemporaries. For Nāgārjuna, as for the Buddha in the early texts, it is not merely sentient beings that are "selfless" or non-substantial; all phenomena (dhammas) are without any svabhāva , literally "own-being", "self-nature", or "inherent existence" and thus without any underlying essence. They are empty of being independently existent; thus the heterodox theories of svabhāva circulating at

8214-450: The modern period, the Jonang school also experienced a revival. Key Jonang defenders of shentong in this era include Bamda Gelek Gyatso (1844-1904), Tsoknyi Gyatso (1880-1940), Ngawang Lodro Drakpa (1920-75), Kunga Tukje Palsang (1925-2000) and Ngawang Yonten Sangpo (1928-2002). The strong form of shentong defended by Dölpopa and Tāranātha remains the main philosophical theory of the Jonang school. Other forms of shentong (mainly influenced by

8325-497: The most important of which are the following: Another Jonang list of sutras of definitive meaning, i.e. which teach the ultimate truth , not the relative or provisional meaning (neyārtha) for the Jonang traditions is the following: The most important Buddhist tantra in the Jonang tradition is the Kālacakra tantra . Regarding tantric commentaries, Jonang relies on The Bodhisattva Trilogy (sems 'grel skor gsum), which comprises

8436-549: The mountain of Śrīparvata near the city that would later be called Nāgārjunakoṇḍa ("Hill of Nāgārjuna"). The ruins of Nāgārjunakoṇḍa are located in Guntur district , Andhra Pradesh . The Caitika and Bahuśrutīya nikāyas are known to have had monasteries in Nāgārjunakoṇḍa. The archaeological finds at Nāgārjunakoṇḍa have not resulted in any evidence that the site was associated with Nagarjuna. The name "Nāgārjunakoṇḍa" dates from

8547-424: The non-dual nature of the mind (the buddha-nature ) is real (and not empty of inherent existence) , while all other phenomena are empty in this way. The buddha-nature can be described empty, but not of its own-nature, rather it is empty of all defiled and illusory phenomena. Thus, in Jonang, the emptiness of ultimate reality should not be characterized in the same way as the emptiness of relative phenomena. This

8658-661: The philosophy of shentong ("empty of other") madhyamaka , and the Dro lineage of the Kalachakra Tantra . The origin of this combination in Tibet is traced to the master Yumo Mikyö Dorjé (c. 11th-12th century), a pupil of the Kashmiri master Somanātha, whose treatises compiled sources emphasizing the unique approach to emptiness of the Kalachakra Tantra. The shentong view holds that

8769-457: The problems of positing any sort of inherent essence to causation, movement, change and personal identity. Nāgārjuna makes use of the Indian logical tool of the tetralemma to attack any essentialist conceptions. Nāgārjuna's logical analysis is based on four basic propositions: To say that all things are 'empty' is to deny any kind of ontological foundation; therefore Nāgārjuna's view is often seen as

8880-620: The provisional teachings is the same buddha-nature and therefore the scriptures of the second and third turning along with the yogacara and madhyamaka traditions are ultimately all in agreement. Dölpopa draws on various Indian sources to defend this position, including the Maitreya Chapter of the Large Prajñāpāramitā sutra , the Bṛhaṭṭīkā commentary (which he attributed to Vasubandhu) and Nagarjuna's Collection of Hymns. Numerous Kagyu lamas have taught various forms of shentong, including

8991-566: The same ontological status. Jonang shentong later influenced the views of various figures in the other schools of Tibetan Buddhism, like Sakya Chokden and Situ Panchen , becoming popular in various lineages. The shentong view was officially banned by Gelug authorities in the 17th century, due to political and doctrinal conflicts with the Jonang school, and shentong texts were sometimes destroyed in this period. After this period of suppression, various shentong views were propagated mainly by Jonang, Kagyu and Nyingma lamas . The 19th century saw

9102-486: The same name who was said to have travelled to the Himalayas. Walser thinks that it is possible that stories related to this figure influenced Buddhist legends as well. [REDACTED] Religion portal There exist a number of influential texts attributed to Nāgārjuna; however, as there are many pseudepigrapha attributed to him, lively controversy exists over which are his authentic works. The Mūlamadhyamakakārikā

9213-465: The shentong philosophy. After Dolpopa's time, the Jonang school generated a number of renowned Buddhist scholars, its most famous being Lama Tāranātha (1575–1634), who placed great emphasis on the Kālacakra Tantra , Sanskrit study and the history of Indian Buddhism . Tāranātha studied under various figures, such as Je Draktopa, Yeshe Wangpo, Kunga Tashi and Jampa Lhundrup, but his main teacher

9324-508: The shentong view, Dolpopa draws on several Indian Mahayana sutras which he considered to be of definitive meaning (Sanskrit: nītārtha) including: Tathāgatagarbha sūtra , Avikalpapraveśa dhāraṇī ( Dharani for Entering the Nonconceptual ), Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra , Mahābherīsūtra ( Sutra of the Great Drum ), Aṅgulimālīya Sūtra , Tathāgatamahākaruṇānirdeśasūtra (Sutra Presenting

9435-504: The shentong view. He also wrote important texts explaining and justifying the shentong view of the three natures based on arguments from the Madhyāntavibhāga and Ratnagotravibhāga . Shentong views have come under criticism particularly by some followers of the Sakya and Gelug schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Sakya lama Rendawa Shonu Lodro (1348-1413) was one of the earliest critics of

9546-523: The shentong view. These five are: Jonang The Jonang ( Tibetan : ཇོ་ནང་ , Wylie : Jo-nang ) is a school of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism . Its origins in Tibet can be traced to the early 12th century master Yumo Mikyo Dorje . It became widely known through the work of the popular 14th century figure Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen . The Jonang school's main practice is the Kālacakra tantra ( Wheel of Time Tantra ), and they are widely known for their defense of

9657-453: The six-branch yoga of Kālacakra . In his Lamps, Dorje discusses the visible forms of emptiness (śūnyatā-bimba) seen during the Kālacakra yogas. To him, these forms reveal emptiness as a "path" that can be perceived, affirmed, and engaged with, compared to emptiness as a "view" which is a purely intellectual negation that cannot be perceived and engaged with, and is thus of lesser value. Shentong

9768-452: The subject in question (6). The third category considers rangtong and shentong as distinct (nonconceptual) experiences or phases in the process of attaining realization (7)." Thus, the term shentong can refer to a metaphysical theory, a doctrinal conceptual schema and a way to explain a specific experience. The shentong doctrine of the Jonang school views the two truths doctrine as distinguishing between an ultimate reality (buddha-nature,

9879-818: The teaching of the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras as well as with having revealed these scriptures to the world after they had remained hidden for some time. The sources differ on where this happened and how Nāgārjuna retrieved the sutras. Some sources say he retrieved the sutras from the land of the nāgas . Nāgārjuna himself is often depicted in composite form comprising human and nāga characteristics. Nāgas are snake-like supernatural beings of great magical power that feature in Hindu , Buddhist and Jain mythology . Nāgas are found throughout Indian religious culture, and typically signify intelligent serpents or dragons that are responsible for rain, lakes, and other bodies of water. In Buddhism,

9990-480: The texts that he considers "least controversial": Mūlamadhyamaka-kārikā, Vigrahavyāvartanī, Śūnyatāsaptati, Yuktiṣāṣṭika , Catuḥstava , Vaidalyaprakaraṇa and Ratnāvalī . Similarly, Jan Westerhoff notes how there is uncertainty about the attribution of Nagarjuna's works (and about his life in general). He relies on six works: MMK, Vigrahavyāvartanī, Śūnyatāsaptati, Yuktiṣāṣṭika , Vaidalyaprakaraṇa and Ratnāvalī, all of which "expound

10101-530: The third category of dubious or questionable texts into those which are "perhaps authentic" and those who are unlikely to be authentic. Those which he sees as perhaps being authentic include: Ruegg notes various works of uncertain authorship which have been attributed to Nagarjuna, including the Dharmadhatustava (Hymn to the Dharmadhatu , which shows later influences), Mahayanavimsika, Salistambakarikas,

10212-467: The time were refuted on the basis of the doctrines of early Buddhism. This is so because all things arise always dependently: not by their own power, but by depending on conditions leading to their becoming —coming into existence —, as opposed to being . Nāgārjuna means by real any entity which has a nature of its own (svabhāva), which is not produced by causes (akrtaka), which is not dependent on anything else (paratra nirapeksha). Chapter 24 verse 14 of

10323-546: The time, for example, he referred to the ultimate truth as atman (self), nitya (eternal), and dhruva (immovable). According to Tāranātha, Dölpopa also unified two shentong lineages, the sūtra lineage of Maitreya-Asaṅga (through Maitrīpa, Ratnākaraśānti, Su Gawé Dorje, Dsen Kawoché and so on) and the Kālacakratantra shentong lineage of Kālacakrapāda the Elder (through Bodhibhadra, Paṇḍita Somanātha, and Yumowa Mikyö Dorje). In

10434-509: The topics of Madhyamaka, Yogacara, and the theory of Buddha-nature. Shentong adherents generally trace the shentong view back to India, pointing to numerous Indian sources, ranging from early suttas like the Cula-suññata Sutta to the tathagatagarbha sutras , a group of treatises variously attributed jointly to Asanga and Maitreya (especially the Ratnagotravibhāga ), and a body of praises attributed to Nāgārjuna (the "Four Hymns" and

10545-405: The treatises of Maitreya ( Dharmadharmatāvibhāga and Ratnagotravibhāga ) and some of Nāgārjuna's hymns. Kongtrul traces the lineage of the third wheel of Dharma through Indian figures like Asaṅga, Vasubandhu, Dharmapāla (530-561), Candragomī , Ratnākaraśānti , Maitrīpa and his student Vajrapāṇi, who wrote a commentary on Maitrīpa's Tattvadaśaka ( Ten Stanzas on True Reality ). This lineage

10656-446: The true shentong is "the great freedom from extremes, the inseparability of appearance and emptiness, and the union of the two realities". He further describes it as "mind as such, unconfined, unbiased, naturally luminous, expanse and awareness inseparable, the great sphere, ordinary mind." He rejected Jonang shentong as eternalistic for positing an eternal and immutable ultimate reality permanent. He also argues that this view insults

10767-454: The view, and so was his student, Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), the founder of the Gelug school. Tsongkhapa sees the view of "other-emptiness" as absolutist and essentialist. According to Tsongkhapa, emptiness is itself empty of inherent existence and thus only exists nominally and conventionally as dependent arising . There is thus no "transcendental ground," and "ultimate reality" that has an existence of its own. Early in his life, Rendawa wrote

10878-489: The works definitely written by Nāgārjuna are: Other scholars have challenged and argued against some of the above works being Nagarjuna's. David F. Burton notes that Christian Lindtner is "rather liberal" with his list of works and that other scholars have called some of these into question. He notes how Paul Williams argued convincingly that the Bodhicittavivaraṇa must be a later text. In his study, Burton relies on

10989-403: Was a separate Aryuvedic writer called Nāgārjuna who wrote numerous treatises on Rasayana . Also, there is a later Tantric Buddhist author by the same name who may have been a scholar at Nālandā University and wrote on Buddhist tantra . According to Donald S. Lopez Jr. , he originally belonged to a Brahmin family from eastern India and later became Buddhist. There is also a Jain figure of

11100-507: Was able to spread to other regions like Golog and Ngawa . Dzamtang Tsangwa dzong (in Zamtang County , Sichuan ), established by Ngag dbang bstan ’dzin rnam rgyal (1691–1728), eventually became the school's main seat. Due to the efforts of figures like Ngag dbang blo gros grags pa (1920–1975) and Ngag dbang yon tan bzang po (1928–2002), about fifty Jonang monasteries survived the cultural revolution. The Jonang school also experienced

11211-540: Was also a teacher of the Thirteenth Karmapa, and the Tenth Shamarpa. The 19th century saw a further revival of shentong, particularly within figures of the Rimé movement like Jamyang Kyentsé Wangpo (1820–1892) and Jamyang Chökyi Lodrö (1896–1958). A key Rime defender of a strong Dölpopa influenced shentong was Jamgön Kongtrül (1813–1899) , and his work remains influential in Kagyu circles today. The influential Nyingma scholar Jamgön Ju Mipham (1846–1912) also defended

11322-460: Was an Indian monk and Mahāyāna Buddhist philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers. Jan Westerhoff considers him to be "one of the greatest thinkers in the history of Asian philosophy ." Nāgārjuna is widely considered to be the founder of the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy and a defender of

11433-566: Was an advisor to a king of the Sātavāhana dynasty which ruled the Deccan Plateau in the second century. This is supported by most of the traditional hagiographical sources as well. Archaeological evidence at Amarāvatī indicates that if this is true, the king may have been Yajña Śrī Śātakarṇi (c. second half of the 2nd century). On the basis of this association, Nāgārjuna is conventionally placed at around 150–250 CE. Walser thinks that it

11544-504: Was coined by shentong theorist Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen, who used the term "shentong" to characterise his own teachings and "rangtong" to refer to the teachings he saw as lesser to shentong. Rangtong generally refers to the Madhyamaka view which holds that all phenomena are empty of self ( atman ) and inherent nature (svabhava) and that this emptiness is not an absolute reality, but a mere nominal designation. The notion of shentong grew out of various Indian and Tibetan doctrinal discussions on

11655-560: Was known about the survival of Jonang until Tibetologists discovered around 40 monasteries, with around 5000 monks, including some in the Amdo Tibetan and rGyalgrong areas of Qinghai , Sichuan and Tibet. One of the primary supporters of the Jonang lineage in exile has been the 14th Dalai Lama . The Dalai Lama donated buildings in Himachal Pradesh state in Shimla , India for use as

11766-456: Was not a strong monastic center until about 425. Also, as Walser notes, "Xuanzang and Yijing both spent considerable time at Nālanda and studied Nāgārjuna’s texts there. It is strange that they would have spent so much time there and yet chose not to report any local tales of a man whose works played such an important part in the curriculum." Some sources ( Bu-ston and the other Tibetan historians) claim that in his later years, Nāgārjuna lived on

11877-420: Was systematized and spread by Dölpopa Shérap Gyeltsen (1292–1361), a Sakya trained lama who later joined the Jonang school, studied under Khetsun Yonten Gyatso (1260-1327), and became a great scholar practitioner of Jonang Kālacakra . In 1321 Dölpopa visited Tsurphu Monastery for the first time, and had extensive discussions with the third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339). Rangjung Dorje may have influenced

11988-510: Was the mahāsiddha Buddhaguptanātha. Samding Dorje Phagmo In the 17th century, the Gelug school became the dominant political force in Tibet, which was now ruled by the Dalai Lamas . The Gelug school worked to suppress the Jonang school and its distinct philosophy of shentong. Modern historians have identified two other reasons which more likely led the Gelugpa to suppress the Jonangpa. First,

12099-499: Was the inventor of the Shunyata doctrine; however, more recent work by scholars such as Choong Mun-keat, Yin Shun and Dhammajothi Thero has argued that Nāgārjuna was not an innovator by putting forth this theory, but that, in the words of Shi Huifeng, "the connection between emptiness and dependent origination is not an innovation or creation of Nāgārjuna". Nāgārjuna was also instrumental in

12210-481: Was transmitted to Tibet by Ānandakīrti and Sajjana, through Ngog Lotsāwa (1059–1109), Su Gawé Dorje, Dsen Kawoché, and entered the Kagyu tradition through Gampopa and Padampa Sangyé . In the Jonang tradition of Kālacakra , Yumo Mikyö Dorje is considered the key founder of shentong in Tibet. Jonang histories state he was a Kashmiri pandit and a student of a siddha named Candranātha. The only surviving texts of this figure are his "Four Lucid Lamps", which focus on

12321-476: Was very impressed by the yogis of Jonang Monastery and eventually studied there under Khetsun Yonten Gyatso (1260–1327), receiving a complete transmission of the Jonang Kālacakra tradition. After some years in meditative retreat, Dolpopa assumed the leadership of Jonang monastery. Over the years, Dolpopa became extremely popular and was invited to teach throughout Tibet. He wrote various influential works on

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