Samding Dorje Phagmo
162-524: The Svātantrika–Prāsaṅgika distinction is a doctrinal distinction made within Tibetan Buddhism between two stances regarding the use of logic and the meaning of conventional truth within the presentation of Madhyamaka . Svātantrika is a category of Madhyamaka viewpoints attributed primarily to the 6th-century Indian scholar Bhāviveka . Bhāviveka criticised Buddhapalita ’s abstinence from syllogistic reasoning in his commentary on Nāgārjuna . Following
324-881: A democratic government, the Central Tibetan Administration . The Dalai Lama advocates for the welfare of Tibetans and since the early 1970s has called for the Middle Way Approach with China to peacefully resolve the issue of Tibet. This policy, adopted democratically by the Central Tibetan Administration and the Tibetan people through long discussions, seeks to find a middle ground, "a practical approach and mutually beneficial to both Tibetans and Chinese, in which Tibetans can preserve their culture and religion and uphold their identity," and China's assertion of sovereignty over Tibet, aiming to address
486-456: A Lhasa accent, in a dialect the boy's mother could not understand. The next time the party returned to the house, they revealed their real purpose and asked permission to subject the boy to certain tests. One test consisted of showing him various pairs of objects, one of which had belonged to the 13th Dalai Lama and one which had not. In every case, he chose the Dalai Lama's own objects and rejected
648-601: A candidate had been found in Taktser, he had the family brought to him in Xining. He first demanded proof that the boy was the Dalai Lama, but the Lhasa government, though informed by Kewtsang that this was the one, told Kewtsang to say he had to go to Lhasa for further tests with other candidates. They knew that if he was declared to be the Dalai Lama, the Chinese government would insist on sending
810-403: A certain existence 'according to their characteristics." Bhāviveka criticised Buddhapalita for merely repeating Nāgārjuna's ad absurdum approach in his commentary, instead of clarifying Nāgārjuna's teachings. According to Bhāviveka, syllogistic reasoning could be used for the sake of clarification. Bhāviveka further argued that Buddhapalita only showed the logical consequences, and incoherence, of
972-472: A common ground onto which those syllogistic reasonings can be applied. This common ground is the shared perception of the object whose's emptiness of inherent existence is to be established. According to Bhaviveka, this shared perception is possible because the perceived objects are mentally imputed (labeled) based on characteristic marks which distinguishes them from other objects. The Prāsaṅgika reject this idea, arguing that "[w]hat establishes that things exist
1134-550: A conventional everyday sense, madhyamaka does accept that one can speak of "things", and yet ultimately these things are empty of inherent existence. Furthermore, "emptiness" itself is also "empty": it does not have an existence on its own, nor does it refer to a transcendental reality beyond or above phenomenal reality. Svabhāva' s cognitive aspect is merely a superimposition ( samāropa ) that beings make when they perceive and conceive of things. In this sense then, emptiness does not exist as some kind of primordial reality, but it
1296-459: A debate or discussion do not hold a valid understanding, "the debate [should be] founded on what the parties accept as valid. Hence, it is proper to refute opponents in terms of what they accept." In other words, it is more appropriate to establish a position of emptiness through showing the logical consequences of the incorrect position that the opponent already accepts, than it is to establish emptiness through syllogistic reasoning using premises that
1458-501: A discussion which starts from a similarly perceived object of discussion. And it also makes impossible the use of syllogistic reasoning to convince the opponent. Candrakīrti's works had no influence on Indian and early Tibetan Madhayamaka, but started to rise to prominence in Tibet in the 12th century. Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), the founder of the Gelugpa school and the most outspoken proponent of
1620-459: A further demand was made for another 330,000 dollars ransom: 100,000 each for government officials, the commander-in-chief, and the Kumbum Monastery; 20,000 for the escort; and only 10,000 for Ma Bufang himself, he said. Two years of diplomatic wrangling followed before it was accepted by Lhasa that the ransom had to be paid to avoid the Chinese getting involved and escorting him to Lhasa with
1782-471: A further distinction in his treatment of ultimate truth or reality. Ultimate truth or reality transcends discursive thought, and cannot be expressed in words. To be able to talk about it anyway, and distinguish it from relative truth or reality, Bhāviveka makes a distinction between the "world-transcending" or "ultimate truth in itself," which is ineffable and beyond words; and the "pure worldly wisdom" or "approximate truth," which can be talked about and points to
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#17328549254081944-441: A large army escort with him, which would then stay in Lhasa and refuse to budge. Ma Bufang, together with Kumbum Monastery , then refused to allow him to depart unless he was declared to be the Dalai Lama, but withdrew this demand in return for 100,000 Chinese dollars ransom in silver to be shared among them, to let them go to Lhasa. Kewtsang managed to raise this, but the family was only allowed to move from Xining to Kumbum when
2106-424: A large army. Meanwhile, the boy was kept at Kumbum where two of his brothers were already studying as monks and recognised incarnate lamas. The payment of 300,000 silver dollars was then advanced by Muslim traders en route to Mecca in a large caravan via Lhasa. They paid Ma Bufang on behalf of the Tibetan government against promissory notes to be redeemed, with interest, in Lhasa. The 20,000-dollar fee for an escort
2268-505: A lengthening of the first vowel and elision of the final -a ). In a Buddhist context, these terms refer to the "middle path" ( madhyama pratipada ), which refers to right view ( samyagdṛṣṭi ) which steers clear of the metaphysical extremes of annihilationism ( ucchedavāda ) and eternalism ( śasvatavāda ). For example, the Sanskrit Kātyāyanaḥsūtra states that though the world "relies on a duality of existence and non-existence",
2430-412: A means to an end (liberation), and therefore they must be founded on the wish to help oneself and others end suffering. Reason and logical arguments, however (such as those employed by classical Indian philosophers , i.e., pramana ), are also seen as being empty of any true validity or reality. They serve only as conventional remedies for our delusions. Nāgārjuna's Vigrahavyāvartanī famously attacked
2592-539: A middle way. Madhyamaka thinkers also argue that since things have the nature of lacking true existence or own being ( niḥsvabhāva ), all things are mere conceptual constructs ( prajñaptimatra ) because they are just impermanent collections of causes and conditions. This also applies to the principle of causality itself, since everything is dependently originated. Therefore, in madhyamaka, phenomena appear to arise and cease, but in an ultimate sense they do not arise or remain as inherently existent phenomena. This tenet
2754-656: A provocation against peace, and reminded him of the Indian Government's non-interventionist stance agreed upon with its 1954 treaty with China . Long called a "splittist" and "traitor" by China, the Dalai Lama has attempted formal talks over Tibet's status in China. In 2019, after the United States passed a law requiring the US to deny visas to Chinese officials in charge of implementing policies that restrict foreign access to Tibet,
2916-506: A small house with distinctive eaves. The team, led by Kewtsang Rinpoche , went first to meet the Panchen Lama , who had been stuck in Jyekundo , in northern Kham. The Panchen Lama had been investigating births of unusual children in the area ever since the death of the 13th Dalai Lama. He gave Kewtsang the names of three boys whom he had discovered and identified as candidates. Within a year
3078-479: A sort of tension in madhyamaka literature, since it has use some concepts to convey its teachings. For madhyamaka, the realization of emptiness is not just a satisfactory theory about the world, but a key understanding which allows one to reach liberation or nirvana . As Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā ("Root Verses on the Middle Way") puts it: With the cessation of ignorance, formations will not arise. Moreover,
3240-559: A special palanquin carried by two mules, two years after being discovered. As soon as they were out of Ma Bufang's area, he was officially declared to be the 14th Dalai Lama by the Kashag , and after ten weeks of travel he arrived in Lhasa on 8 October 1939. The ordination ( pabbajja ) and giving of the monastic name of Tenzin Gyatso were arranged by Reting Rinpoche and according to the Dalai Lama "I received my ordination from Kyabjé Ling Rinpoché in
3402-410: A student of Śāntarakṣita: The difference lies in their "acceptance or rejection of extramental phenomena on the conventional level." While Bhavaviveka considered material phenomena at the conventional level as to be existent outside the mind, he applied Sautrāntika terminology to describe and explain them. Śāntarakṣita rejected this approach, denying "the extramental status of phenomena appearing within
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#17328549254083564-542: A tradition of Buddhist philosophy and practice founded by the Indian Buddhist monk and philosopher Nāgārjuna ( c. 150 – c. 250 CE ). The foundational text of the Mādhyamaka tradition is Nāgārjuna 's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā ("Root Verses on the Middle Way"). More broadly, Mādhyamaka also refers to the ultimate nature of phenomena as well as the non-conceptual realization of ultimate reality that
3726-658: Is a Prāsangika approach. In this context Tenzin Gyatso , his holiness the Dalai Lama , says in a forward to Shantideva 's book " A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life ," a work based on the idea that the Mahayana teachings are focused on cultivating a mind wishing to benefit other sentient beings, that Shantideva’s philosophical stance follows the Prāsangika-Madhyamaka viewpoint of Chandrakīrti. Madhyamaka originated with
3888-423: Is a Sanskrit word meaning "middle". It is cognate with Latin med-iu-s and English mid . The -ma suffix is a superlative, giving madhyama the meaning of "mid-most" or "medium". The -ka suffix is used to form adjectives, thus madhyamaka means "middling". The -ika suffix is used to form possessives, with a collective sense, thus mādhyamika mean "belonging to the mid-most" (the -ika suffix regularly causes
4050-531: Is a complex concept that has ontological and cognitive aspects. The ontological aspects include svabhāva as essence , as a property which makes an object what it is, as well as svabhāva as substance , meaning, as the madhyamaka thinker Candrakīrti defines it, something that does "not depend on anything else". It is substance- svabhāva , the objective and independent existence of any object or concept, which madhyamaka arguments mostly focus on refuting. A common structure which madhyamaka uses to negate svabhāva
4212-669: Is a strong indicator of official Chinese government involvement" since economic information is the primary goal of private Chinese hackers. In 2009 the personal office of the Dalai Lama asked researchers at the Munk Center for International Studies at the University of Toronto to check its computers for malicious software. This led to uncovering GhostNet , a large-scale cyber spying operation which infiltrated at least 1,295 computers in 103 countries, including embassies, foreign ministries, other government offices, and organisations affiliated with
4374-476: Is also nothing to be negated." Therefore, it is only from the perspective of those who cling to the existence of things that it seems as if something is being negated. In truth, madhyamaka is not annihilating something, merely elucidating that this so-called existence never existed in the first place. Thus, madhyamaka uses language to make clear the limits of our concepts. Ultimately, reality cannot be depicted by concepts. According to Jay Garfield , this creates
4536-407: Is authoritative cognition, there are objects of knowledge; when there are objects of knowledge, there is authoritative cognition. But neither authoritative cognition nor objects of knowledge exist inherently. To the charge that if Nāgārjuna's arguments and words are also empty they therefore lack the power to refute anything, Nāgārjuna responds that: My words are without nature. Therefore, my thesis
4698-440: Is dependent for its existence and nature on something else which has own-nature. Furthermore, if there is neither own-nature nor other-nature, there cannot be anything with a true, substantial existent nature ( bhava ). If there is no true existent, then there can be no non-existent ( abhava ). An important element of madhyamaka refutation is that the classical Buddhist doctrine of dependent arising (the idea that every phenomena
4860-506: Is dependent on other phenomena) cannot be reconciled with "a conception of self-nature or substance" and that therefore essence theories are contrary not only to the Buddhist scriptures but to the very ideas of causality and change. Any enduring essential nature would prevent any causal interaction, or any kind of origination. For things would simply always have been, and will always continue to be, without any change. As Nāgārjuna writes in
5022-584: Is experienced in meditation . Since the 4th century CE onwards, Mādhyamaka philosophy had a major influence on the subsequent development of the Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition, especially following the spread of Buddhism throughout Asia . It is the dominant interpretation of Buddhist philosophy in Tibetan Buddhism and has also been influential in East Asian Buddhist thought. According to
Svatantrika–Prasaṅgika distinction - Misplaced Pages Continue
5184-574: Is held to show that views of absolute or eternalist existence (such as the Hindu ideas of Brahman or sat-dravya ) and nihilism are both equally untenable. These two views are considered to be the two extremes that madhyamaka steers clear from. The first is essentialism or eternalism (sastavadava) – a belief that things inherently or substantially exist and are therefore efficacious objects of craving and clinging ; Nagarjuna argues that we naively and innately perceive things as substantial, and it
5346-414: Is inseparable from extreme abuse. Evidence to support this linkage has not been found by scholars other than those close to Chinese governmental circles. Goldstein, for example, notes that although the system was based on serfdom, it was not necessarily feudal, and he refutes any automatic link with extreme abuse." The 19-year-old Dalai Lama toured China for almost a year from 1954 to 1955, meeting many of
5508-421: Is no use in explaining the relative truth in any philosophical system; "the relative truth consists simply of phenomena as we observe them, the unanalyzed constituents of the common consensus." The only aim of consequential arguments "is to introduce the mind to the direct knowledge of emptiness, not an intellectual understanding of it," making "no concessions to the spiritually unprepared." Candrakīrti's criticism
5670-401: Is not an ontological reality with substantial or independent existence. Hence, the two truths are not two metaphysical realities; instead, according to Karl Brunnholzl, "the two realities refer to just what is experienced by two different types of beings with different types and scopes of perception". As Candrakirti says: It is through the perfect and the false seeing of all entities That
5832-417: Is not ruined. Since there is no inconsistency, I do not have to state an argument for a distinction. Nāgārjuna goes on: Just as one magical creation may be annihilated by another magical creation, and one illusory person by another person produced by an illusionist, this negation is the same. Shantideva makes the same point: "thus, when one's son dies in a dream, the conception "he does not exist" removes
5994-457: Is only that they are imputable, not that they are imputable with a findable characteristic." According to Tsongkhapa, there is no such common ground or shared perception, while the reliance on characteristic marks implies an inherent existence at the conventional level, which is not in accord with the Madhyamaka point of view. Tsongkhapa holds reductio ad absurdum of essentialist viewpoints to be
6156-435: Is ruined. In that case, there is an inconsistency, And you ought to provide an argument for this distinction. Candrakirti comments on this statement by stating that madhyamaka does not completely deny the use of pramanas conventionally, and yet ultimately they do not have a foundation: Therefore we assert that mundane objects are known through the four kinds of authoritative cognition. They are mutually dependent: when there
6318-413: Is simply a corrective to a mistaken conception of how things exist. This idea of svabhāva that madhyamaka denies is then not just a conceptual philosophical theory, but it is a cognitive distortion that beings automatically impose on the world, such as when we regard the five aggregates as constituting a single self . Candrakirti compares it to someone who suffers from vitreous floaters that cause
6480-433: Is the catuṣkoṭi ("four corners" or tetralemma ), which roughly consists of four alternatives: a proposition is true; a proposition is false; a proposition is both true and false; a proposition is neither true nor false. Some of the major topics discussed by classical madhyamaka include causality , change, and personal identity . Madhyamaka's denial of svabhāva does not mean a nihilistic denial of all things, for in
6642-483: Is the approach that emphasizes the approximate ultimate, while the Prasangika approach emphasizes the ultimate in itself, beyond all assertions." His is a gradual approach, starting with sensory experience and the 'realness' of the "things" perceived through them, which are "provisionally accorded a certain existence." From there the approximate ultimate truth is posited, demonstrating that "phenomena cannot possibly exist in
Svatantrika–Prasaṅgika distinction - Misplaced Pages Continue
6804-586: Is the best approach "to indicate the ultimate without making statements that [...] compromise or [...] obscure their own position." Since the use of autonomous arguments implies the acceptance of real entities, even if only provisional, they should not be used. Born and educated in India, Śāntarakṣita (725–788) came to the Tibetan Empire at the instigation of King Trisong Detsen after Nyang Tingdzin Zangpo had encouraged
6966-697: Is the incumbent Dalai Lama , the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism . Before 1959, he served as both the resident spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet, and subsequently established and led the Tibetan government in exile represented by the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala , India. The adherents of Tibetan Buddhism consider the Dalai Lama a living Bodhisattva , specifically an emanation of Avalokiteśvara (in Sanskrit) or Chenrezig (in Tibetan),
7128-494: Is the limited truth – saṃvṛti satya, which means "to cover", "to conceal", or "obscure". (and thus it is a kind of ignorance) Saṃvṛti is also said to mean "conventional", as in a customary , norm based, agreed upon truth (like linguistic conventions) and it is also glossed as vyavahāra-satya (transactional truth). Finally, Chandrakirti also has a third explanation of saṃvṛti, which is "mutual dependence" ( parasparasaṃbhavana ). This seeming reality does not really exist as
7290-406: Is the world of samsara because conceiving of concrete and unchanging objects leads to clinging and suffering. As Buddhapalita states: "unskilled persons whose eye of intelligence is obscured by the darkness of delusion conceive of an essence of things and then generate attachment and hostility with regard to them". According to Hayes, the two truths may also refer to two different goals in life:
7452-467: Is this predisposition which is the root delusion that lies at the basis of all suffering. The second extreme is nihilism or annihilationism (ucchedavada) – encompassing views that could lead one to believe that there is no need to be responsible for one's actions – such as the idea that one is annihilated at death or that nothing has causal effects – but also the view that absolutely nothing exists. In madhyamaka, reason and debate are understood as
7614-527: Is to be accomplished do not see anything that is delusive or not delusive". From within the experience of the enlightened ones there is only one reality which appears non-conceptually, as Nāgārjuna says in the Sixty stanzas on reasoning: "that nirvana is the sole reality, is what the Victors have declared." Bhāvaviveka's Madhyamakahrdayakārikā describes the ultimate truth through a negation of all four possibilities of
7776-443: The catuskoti : Its character is neither existent, nor nonexistent, / Nor both existent and nonexistent, nor neither. / Centrists should know true reality / That is free from these four possibilities. Atisha describes the ultimate as "here, there is no seeing and no seer, no beginning and no end, just peace.... It is nonconceptual and nonreferential ... it is inexpressible, unobservable, unchanging, and unconditioned." Because of
7938-401: The 5th Dalai Lama . The 14th Dalai Lama has published works like The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of Mahamudra which seem to be influenced by the views of Śāntarakṣita and Padmasambhava , and contain a blend of Tantric theory , Chittamātra , and Madyamaka-Prāsaṅgika. The 14th Dalai Lama, echoing sentiments from classical authorities like Lobsang Chökyi Gyaltsen (4th Panchen Lama) , states that
8100-715: The Chinese language ," a form of Central Plains Mandarin , and his family speak neither Amdo Tibetan nor Lhasa Tibetan . After the demise of the 13th Dalai Lama, in 1935, the Ordinance of Lama Temple Management was published by the Central Government. In 1936, the Method of Reincarnation of Lamas was published by the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission of the Central Government. Article 3 states that death of lamas, including
8262-651: The General Assembly in 1959, 1961, and 1965, all before the People's Republic was allowed representation at the United Nations . The resolutions called on China to respect the human rights of Tibetans . In 1963, he promulgated a democratic constitution which is based upon the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , creating an elected parliament and an administration to champion his cause. In 1970, he opened
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#17328549254088424-604: The Government of Tibet in Exile in Dharamshala , India, which is often referred to as " Little Lhasa ". After the founding of the government in exile he re-established the approximately 80,000 Tibetan refugees who followed him into exile in agricultural settlements. He created a Tibetan educational system in order to teach the Tibetan children the language , history , religion , and culture . The Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts
8586-525: The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamshala which houses over 80,000 manuscripts and important knowledge resources related to Tibetan history, politics and culture. It is considered one of the most important institutions for Tibetology in the world. In 2016, there were demands from Indian citizens and politicians of different political parties to confer the Dalai Lama the prestigious Bharat Ratna ,
8748-525: The Qianlong Emperor described in The Discourse of Lama to eliminate greedy families with multiple reincarnated rinpoches, lamas. Based on custom and regulation, the regent was actively involved in the search for the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Following reported signs and visions, three search teams were sent out to the north-east, the east, and the south-east to locate the new incarnation when
8910-596: The Sakya and Nyingma schools, which participated in the Rimé movement, the Svātantrika–Prāsaṅgika distinction is generally viewed to be of lesser importance. For these schools, the key distinction between these viewpoints is whether one works with assertions about the ultimate nature of reality, or if one refrains completely from doing so. If one works with assertions, then that is a Svātantrika approach. Refraining from doing so
9072-433: The Sakya school to which he originally belonged. His critics rejected his interpretation as "inadequate, newfangled, and unsupported by tradition." According to those critics, Tsongkhapa had "greatly exaggerated the divergence of view." Tsongkhapa's view became the dominant view in the beginning of the 17th century, when Gusri Khan (1582–1655) ended the civil war in central Tibet, putting the 5th Dalai Lama in command of
9234-512: The Vigrahavyavartani , also didn't use autonomous arguments. Candrakīrti rejected "the use of autonomous arguments, for the very reason that they imply the acceptance (however provisional) of entities. According to Candrakīrti, this mode of thinking is a subtle form of grasping at inherent existence: one's mind is still searching for some way to hold on to an essence, self, or identity for conventionally perceived objects. For Candrakīrti, there
9396-687: The environment , economics, women's rights , nonviolence , interfaith dialogue , physics , astronomy , Buddhism and science , cognitive neuroscience , reproductive health and sexuality . The Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. Time magazine named the Dalai Lama Gandhi 's spiritual heir to nonviolence. The 12th General Assembly of the Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace in New Delhi unanimously recognized
9558-440: The system of feudal peasantry to persist. Scholar Robert Barnett wrote of the serfdom controversy: "So even if it were agreed that serfdom and feudalism existed in Tibet, this would be little different other than in technicalities from conditions in any other 'premodern' peasant society, including most of China at that time. The power of the Chinese argument therefore lies in its implication that serfdom, and with it feudalism,
9720-524: The "Freedom from Proliferation" ( Tibetan : སྤྲོས་བྲལ་ , Wylie : spros bral ) Madhyamaka. Gorampa does not agree with Tsonghkapa that the Prāsaṅgika and Svātantrika methods produce different results, nor that the Prāsaṅgika is a "higher" view. He does also critique the Svātantrika approach as having too much reliance on logic, because in his view the component parts of syllogistic logic are not applicable in
9882-509: The "ultimate truth in itself," which has to be personally experienced. Dreyfus and McClintock observe that Bhāvaviveka was more influential in Indian Madhyamaka than was Candrakīrti: "In this regard, Bhāvaviveka should probably be seen as quite successful: apart from Candrakīrti and Jayananda, nearly all other Indian Mādhyamikas were to follow in his footsteps and embrace autonomous arguments as important tools in their endeavors to establish
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#173285492540810044-455: The 12th century, when the works of Candrakīrti were first translated into Tibetan. In this synthesis, conventional truth or reality is explained and analysed in terms of the Yogācāra system, while the ultimate truth is presented in terms of the Madhyamaka system. While Śāntarakṣita's synthesis reflects the final development of Indian Madhyamaka and post-dates Candrakīrti, Tibetan doxographers ignored
10206-601: The 14th Dalai Lama in 1939. As with the recognition process for his predecessor, a Golden Urn selection process was waived and approved by the Central Government of the Republic of China . His enthronement ceremony was held in Lhasa on 22 February 1940. At the time of his selection, a form of Tibetan government called Ganden Phodrang administered the traditional Tibetan regions of Ü-Tsang , Kham and Amdo. As Chinese forces re-entered and annexed Tibet , Ganden Phodrang invested
10368-569: The Bodhisattva of Compassion, a belief central to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and the institution of the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama, whose name means Ocean of Wisdom , is known to Tibetans as Gyalwa Rinpoche , The Precious Jewel-like Buddha-Master , Kundun , The Presence , and Yizhin Norbu , The Wish-Fulfilling Gem . His devotees, as well as much of the Western world, often call him His Holiness
10530-562: The Buddha teaches a correct view which understands that: Arising in the world, Kātyayana, seen and correctly understood just as it is, shows there is no non-existence in the world. Cessation in the world, Kātyayana, seen and correctly understood just as it is, shows there is no permanent existence in the world. Thus avoiding both extremes the Tathāgata teaches a dharma by the middle path ( madhyamayā pratipadā ) . That is: this being, that becomes; with
10692-588: The Chinese capital to meet Chairman Mao Zedong with the 10th Panchen Lama and attend the first session of the National People's Congress as a delegate, primarily discussing China's constitution . On 27 September 1954, the Dalai Lama was selected as a Vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, a post he officially held until 1964. Mao Zedong who, "according to
10854-603: The Dalai Lama , the style employed on his website. He is also the leader and a monk of the Gelug school, the newest school of Tibetan Buddhism, formally headed by the Ganden Tripa . The 14th Dalai Lama was born to a farming family in Taktser (Hongya Village), in the traditional Tibetan region of Amdo , at the time a Chinese frontier district. He was selected as the tulku of the 13th Dalai Lama in 1937, and formally recognized as
11016-501: The Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama, should be reported to the commission, soul boys should be located and checked by the commission, and a lot-drawing ceremony with the Golden Urn system should be held. Article 6 states that local governments should invite officials from the Central Government to take care of the sitting-in-the-bed ceremony. Article 7 states that soul boys should not be sought from current lama families. This article echoes what
11178-490: The Dalai Lama and arrests citizens for owning photos of him in Tibet. Tibet Autonomous Region government job candidates must strongly denounce the Dalai Lama, as announced on the Tibet Autonomous Region government's online education platform, "Support the (Communist) Party's leadership, resolutely implement the [Chinese Communist] Party's line, line of approach, policies, and the guiding ideology of Tibet work in
11340-554: The Dalai Lama as that he "must [come back] as a Chinese citizen ... that is, patriotism". The Dalai Lama celebrated his 70th birthday on 6 July 2005. About 10,000 Tibetan refugees, monks and foreign tourists gathered outside his home. Patriarch Alexius II of the Russian Orthodox Church alleged positive relations with Buddhists. However, later that year, the Russian state prevented the Dalai Lama from fulfilling an invitation to
11502-538: The Dalai Lama beyond belief. 'My final interview with this remarkable man was toward the end of my visit to China. I was at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly when I received a message asking me to go to see him at this house. By then, I had been able to complete a tour of the Chinese provinces, and I was able to tell him truthfully that I had been greatly impressed and interested by all
11664-428: The Dalai Lama gave a speech outlining his ideas for the future status of Tibet. The plan called for Tibet to become a democratic "zone of peace" without nuclear weapons , and with support for human rights . The plan would come to be known as the "Strasbourg proposal," because the Dalai Lama expanded on the plan at Strasbourg on 15 June 1988. There, he proposed the creation of a self-governing Tibet "in association with
11826-753: The Dalai Lama in India, Brussels, London and New York, and believed to be focusing on the governments of South and Southeast Asia. A second cyberspy network, Shadow Network , was discovered by the same researchers in 2010. Stolen documents included a year's worth of the Dalai Lama's personal email, and classified government material relating to India, West Africa, the Russian Federation, the Middle East, and NATO. "Sophisticated" hackers were linked to universities in China, Beijing again denied involvement. Chinese hackers posing as The New York Times , Amnesty International and other organisation's reporters targeted
11988-505: The Dalai Lama with temporal duties on 17 November 1950 (at 15 years of age) until his exile in 1959. During the 1959 Tibetan uprising , the Dalai Lama escaped to India, where he continues to live. On 29 April 1959, the Dalai Lama established the independent Tibetan government in exile in the north Indian hill station of Mussoorie , which then moved in May 1960 to Dharamshala , where he resides. He retired as political head in 2011 to make way for
12150-526: The Dalai Lama's contributions to global peace, his lifelong efforts in uniting Buddhist communities worldwide, and bestowed upon him the title of “Universal Supreme Leader of the Buddhist World.” They also designated 6 July, his birthday, as the Universal Day of Compassion . Lhamo Thondup was born on 6 July 1935 to a farming and horse trading family in the small hamlet of Taktser, or Chija Tagtser, at
12312-533: The Dalai Lamas headed the Tibetan government or Ganden Phodrang . Until 1912 however, when the 13th Dalai Lama declared the complete independence of Tibet , their rule was generally subject to patronage and protection of firstly Mongol kings (1642–1720) and then the Manchu -led Qing dynasty (1720–1912). During the Dalai Lama's recognition process, the cultural Anthropologist Melvyn Goldstein writes that "everything
12474-474: The Jokhang in Lhasa." There was very limited Chinese involvement at this time. The family of the 14th Dalai Lama was elevated to the highest stratum of the Tibetan aristocracy and acquired land and serf holdings, as with the families of previous Dalai Lamas. In 1959, at the age of 23, he took his final examination at Lhasa's Jokhang Temple during the annual Monlam Prayer Festival . He passed with honours and
12636-491: The King to make the invitation. Śāntarakṣita came to Tibet sometime before 767 CE. He oversaw the construction of the first Buddhist monastery at Samye in 787 CE, ordained the first monastics there, had Indian Buddhist texts brought to Tibet, and started the first translation project. He also advised the king to invite Padmasambhava to come to Tibet. He was also instrumental in the coming of Kamalaśīla to Tibet, who participated in
12798-749: The MMK: We state that conditioned origination is emptiness. It is mere designation depending on something, and it is the middle path. (24.18) Since nothing has arisen without depending on something, there is nothing that is not empty. (24.19) Beginning with Nāgārjuna , madhyamaka discerns two levels of truth , conventional truth (everyday commonsense reality) and ultimate truth ( emptiness ). Ultimately, madhyamaka argues that all phenomena are empty of svabhava and only exist in dependence on other causes, conditions and concepts. Conventionally, madhyamaka holds that beings do perceive concrete objects which they are aware of empirically. In madhyamaka this phenomenal world
12960-492: The Method of Using Golden Urn for the 14th Dalai Lama was drafted by Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission . On 12 December 1938, regent Reting Rinpoche informed Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission that three candidates were found and ceremony of Golden Urn would be held. Released from Kumbum, on 21 July 1939 the party travelled across Tibet on a journey to Lhasa in the large Muslim caravan with Lhamo Dhondup, now four years old, riding with his brother Lobsang in
13122-462: The Middle Way") is an example of this new impetus to older strands of Tibetan Buddhism. Mipham presents an alternative interpretation of the Svātantrika–Prāsaṅgika distinction, in which the emphasis is not on "dialectical preferences," (consequential reasoning versus syllogistic reasoning), but on the distinction between the "approximate ultimate truth" and the "actual ultimate truth," just like Bhāviveka did. According to Mipham, "the authentic Svatantrika
13284-676: The Padmakara Translation Group, "its presentation of "conventional," as distinct from "true," existence seems very close to the "existence according to characteristics" that Bhavya had ascribed to phenomena on the relative level. The Sakya teacher Gorampa was critical of Tsongkhapa and his views. One of Gorampa's most important and popular works is Distinguishing the Views ( Tibetan : ལྟ་བའི་ཤན་འབྱེད , Wylie : lta ba'i shan 'byed ), in which he argues for his view of Madhyamaka . He and other Sakya teachers classify themselves as presenting
13446-497: The Panchen Lama had died. Two of his three candidates were crossed off the list but the third, a "fearless" child, the most promising, was from Taktser village, which, as in the vision, was on a hill, at the end of a trail leading to Taktser from the great Kumbum Monastery with its gilded, turquoise roof. There they found a house, as interpreted from the vision—the house where Lhamo Dhondup lived. The 14th Dalai Lama claims that at
13608-587: The People's Republic of China." This would have been pursued by negotiations with the PRC government, but the plan was rejected by the Tibetan Government-in-Exile in 1991. The Dalai Lama has indicated that he wishes to return to Tibet only if the People's Republic of China agrees not to make any precondition for his return. In the 1970s, the Paramount leader Deng Xiaoping set China's sole return requirement to
13770-623: The Prāsaṅgika from his opponents that, according to him, hold a Svātantrika view. They are: However, many scholars will assert that the main difference is condensed in point 3: the use of autonomous syllogisms by the Svātantrikas and the reductio ad absurdum by the Prāsaṅgikas, whereas they consider the other points posited by Tsongkhapa as just minor doctrinal differences in Gelugpa's Madhyamaka approach. Others schools assert that Tsongkhapa exaggerated
13932-541: The Samkhya's views on causation and inherent existence, but failed to address their arguments against Buddhist critiques. Furthermore, simply negating the opponent's view, without positing one's own position, "leaves room for doubt in the opponent's mind," and is unwarranted. To facilitate the possibility of discussing Madhyamaka with opponents, Bhāviveka made a provisional division of the two truths, accepting that phenomena exist "according to their characteristics." Bhāviveka made
14094-411: The Tibetan army in warlord -controlled Kham . On 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, the 14th Dalai Lama assumed full temporal (political) power as ruler of Tibet. The Dalai Lama's formal rule as head of the government in Tibet was brief although he was enthroned as spiritual leader on 22 February 1940. When Chinese cadres entered Tibet in 1950, with a crisis looming, the Dalai Lama was asked to assume
14256-461: The Tibetan leader, treated him as a 'father would treat a son,'" "also showed Tibet’s political leader and its foremost spiritual master its ambivalence to Tibetan Buddhism. The Dalai Lama recounts this episode in his autobiography, My Land and My People , 'A few days later I had a message from Mao Tse-tung to say that he was coming to see me in an hour’s time. When he arrived he said he had merely come to call. Then something made him say that Buddhism
14418-417: The Tibetan representatives to communicate with the Tibetan government in Lhasa. The Tibetan delegation was not authorised by Lhasa to sign, but ultimately submitted to pressure from the Chinese to sign anyway, using seals specifically made for the purpose. The Seventeen Point Agreement recognised Chinese sovereignty over Tibet, but China allowed the Dalai Lama to continue to rule Tibet internally, and it allowed
14580-585: The Tibetans did during the selection process was designed to prevent China from playing any role". Afterwards in 1939, at the age of four, the Dalai Lama was taken in a procession of lamas to Lhasa. Former British officials stationed in India and Tibet recalled that envoys from Britain and China were present at the Dalai Lama's enthronement in February 1940. According to Basil Gould , the Chinese representative Wu Chunghsin
14742-498: The US Ambassador to China "encouraged the Chinese government to engage in substantive dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives, without preconditions, to seek a settlement that resolves differences". The Chinese Foreign Ministry has warned the US and other countries to "shun" the Dalai Lama during visits and often uses trade negotiations and human rights talks as an incentive to do so. China sporadically bans images of
14904-432: The Yogācāra system, while the ultimate truth is presented in terms of the Madhyamaka system. When Buddhism was established in Tibet, the primary philosophic viewpoint established there was that of Śāntarakṣita (725–788), a synthesis of Madhyamaka, Yogācāra and Buddhist logic called Yogācāra-Mādhyamaka . A common distinction of Madhyamaka teachings was given by Jñanasutra ( Wylie : ye shes sde , 8th–9th centuries),
15066-457: The absurd and impossible logical consequences of holding essentialist views. According to Candrakīrti, the mere object can only be discussed if both parties perceive it in the same way. As a consequence (according to Candrakīrti) svātantrika reasoning is impossible in a debate, since the opponents argue from two irreconcilable points of view, namely a mistaken essentialist perception, and a correct non-essentialist perception. This leaves no ground for
15228-517: The age of three by the 13th Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the high Lama , the 6th Taktser Rinpoche . His fifth brother, Tendzin Choegyal , had been recognised as the 16th Ngari Rinpoche. His sister, Jetsun Pema , spent most of her adult life on the Tibetan Children's Villages project. The Dalai Lama has said that his first language was "a broken Xining language which was (a dialect of )
15390-435: The arising of this, that arises. With ignorance as condition there is volition ... [to be expanded with the standard formula of the 12 links of dependent origination] Though all Buddhist schools saw themselves as defending a middle path in accord with the Buddhist teachings, the name madhyamaka refers to a school of Mahayana philosophy associated with Nāgārjuna and his commentators. The term mādhyamika refers to adherents of
15552-613: The border with Tibet. Chiang also threatened the Tibetans with aerial bombardment if they worked with the Japanese. Ma Bufang attacked the Tibetan Buddhist Tsang monastery in 1941. He also constantly attacked the Labrang monastery . In October 1950 the army of the People's Republic of China marched to the edge of the Dalai Lama's territory and sent a delegation after defeating a legion of
15714-422: The boy who was to become the 14th Dalai Lama was about two years old. Sir Basil Gould , British delegate to Lhasa in 1936, related his account of the north-eastern team to Sir Charles Alfred Bell , former British resident in Lhasa and friend of the 13th Dalai Lama. Among other omens, the head of the embalmed body of the 13th Dalai Lama , at first facing south-east, had turned to face the north-east, indicating, it
15876-519: The cessation of ignorance occurs through right understanding. Through the cessation of this and that, this and that will not come about. The entire mass of suffering thereby completely ceases. Tenzin Gyatso This is an accepted version of this page Samding Dorje Phagmo The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso , full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso , also known as Tenzin Gyatso ; né Lhamo Thondup ;
16038-415: The claim that students using Svātantrika do not achieve the same realization as those using the Prāsaṅgika approach. According to those critics, there is no difference in the realization of those using the Svātantrika and Prāsaṅgika approaches. They also argue that the Svātantrika approach is better for students who are not able to understand the more direct approach of Prāsaṅgika, but it nonetheless results in
16200-434: The classical Indian Mādhyamika thinkers, all phenomena ( dharmas ) are empty ( śūnya ) of "nature", of any "substance" or "essence" ( svabhāva ) which could give them "solid and independent existence", because they are dependently co-arisen . But this "emptiness" itself is also "empty": it does not have an existence on its own, nor does it refer to a transcendental reality beyond or above phenomenal reality. Madhya
16362-529: The credible teachers of the various systems of Buddhist philosophy all "arrive at the same intended point" of realization. However, it is also stated that this non-denominational position is very difficult to establish through reason. Madhyamaka Mādhyamaka ("middle way" or "centrism"; Chinese : 中觀見 ; pinyin : Zhōngguān Jìan ; Tibetan : དབུ་མ་པ་ ; dbu ma pa ), otherwise known as Śūnyavāda ("the emptiness doctrine") and Niḥsvabhāvavāda ("the no svabhāva doctrine"), refers to
16524-407: The development projects I had seen. Then he started to give me a long lecture about the true form of democracy, and advised me how to become a leader of the people and how to take heed of their suggestions. And then he edged closer to me on his chair and whispered: 'I understand you very well. But of course, religion is poison. It has two great defects: It undermines the race, and secondly it retards
16686-488: The differences with Bhavaviveka are of major importance. Established by Lama Tsongkhapa, Candrakīrti's view replaced the Yogācāra-Mādhyamaka approach of Śāntarakṣita (725–788), who synthesized Madhyamaka, Yogācāra and Buddhist logic in a powerful and influential synthesis called Yogācāra-Mādhyamaka . Śāntarakṣita established Buddhism in Tibet, and his Yogācāra-Mādhyamaka was the primary philosophic viewpoint until
16848-474: The distinction, followed Candrakīrti in his rejection of Bhavaviveka's arguments. According to Tsongkhapa, the Svātantrikas do negate intrinsic nature ultimately, but "accept that things conventionally have intrinsic character or intrinsic nature." Tsongkhapa, commenting on Candrakīrti, says that he "refute[s] essential or intrinsic nature even conventionally." For Tsongkhapa, as well as for the Karma Kagyu school,
17010-506: The edge of the traditional Tibetan region of Amdo in Qinghai Province . He was one of seven siblings to survive childhood and one of the three supposed reincarnated Rinpoches in the same family. His eldest sister Tsering Dolma , was 16 years his senior and was midwife to his mother at his birth. She would accompany him into exile and found Tibetan Children's Villages . His eldest brother, Thupten Jigme Norbu , had been recognised at
17172-420: The entities that are thus found bear two natures. The object of perfect seeing is true reality, And false seeing is seeming reality. This means that the distinction between the two truths is primarily epistemological and dependent on the cognition of the observer, not ontological . As Shantideva writes, there are "two kinds of world", "the one of yogins and the one of common people". The seeming reality
17334-430: The example of the influential logician Dignāga , Bhāviveka used autonomous syllogistic reasoning ( svātantra ) syllogisms in the explanation of Madhyamaka. To have a common ground with essentialist opponents, and make it possible to use syllogistic reasoning in discussion with those essentialists, Bhāviveka argued that things can be said to exist conventionally 'according to characteristics'. This makes it possible to take
17496-531: The gap between Svātantrika and Prāsaṅgika by positing another 7 points. According to Dreyfus & McClintock, "many other Tibetan commentators have tended to downplay the significance of any differences." In the 19th century the concurring Nyingma, Kagyu and Sakya schools joined forces in the Rimé movement , in an attempt to preserve their religious legacy against the dominant Gelugpa school. Ju Mipham 's commentary on Śāntarakṣita's Madhyamakālaṃkāra ("The Adornment of
17658-661: The highest civilian honour of India, which has only been awarded to a non-Indian citizen twice in its history. In 2021, it was revealed that the Dalai Lama's inner circle were listed in the Pegasus project data as having been targeted with spyware on their phones. Analysis strongly indicates potential targets were selected by the Indian government. At the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in 1987 in Washington, D.C. ,
17820-424: The highest goal of nirvana, and the lower goal of "commercial good". The highest goal is the liberation from attachment, both material and intellectual. According to Paul Williams, Nāgārjuna associates emptiness with the ultimate truth but his conception of emptiness is not some kind of Absolute , but rather it is the very absence of true existence with regards to the conventional reality of things and events in
17982-497: The highest truth realized by wisdom which is paramartha satya ( parama is literally "supreme or ultimate", and artha means "object, purpose, or actuality"), and yet it has a kind of conventional reality which has its uses for reaching liberation. This limited truth includes everything, including the Buddha himself, the teachings ( dharma ), liberation and even Nāgārjuna's own arguments. This two truth schema which did not deny
18144-404: The illusion of hairs appearing in their visual field. This cognitive dimension of svabhāva means that just understanding and assenting to madhyamaka reasoning is not enough to end the suffering caused by our reification of the world, just like understanding how an optical illusion works does not make it stop functioning. What is required is a kind of cognitive shift (termed realization ) in
18306-418: The importance of convention allowed Nāgārjuna to defend himself against charges of nihilism ; understanding both correctly meant seeing the middle way : "Without relying upon convention, the ultimate fruit is not taught. Without understanding the ultimate, nirvana is not attained." The limited, perceived reality is an experiential reality or a nominal reality which beings impute on the ultimate reality. It
18468-524: The interests of both parties through dialogue and communication and for Tibet to remain a part of China. The Dalai Lama travels worldwide to give Tibetan Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism teachings, and his Kalachakra teachings and initiations are international events. He also attends conferences on a wide range of subjects, including the relationship between religion and science, meets with other world leaders, religious leaders, philosophers, and scientists, online and in-person. His work includes focus on
18630-556: The madhyamaka school. Note that in both words the stress is on the first syllable. [REDACTED] Religion portal Central to madhyamaka philosophy is śūnyatā , "emptiness", and this refers to the central idea that dharmas are empty of svabhāva . This term has been translated variously as essence, intrinsic nature, inherent existence, own being and substance. Furthermore, according to Richard P. Hayes, svabhāva can be interpreted as either "identity" or as "causal independence". Likewise, Westerhoff notes that svabhāva
18792-420: The mere object as the point of departure for the discussion on inherent existence. From there, it is possible to explain how these things are ultimately empty of inherent existence. Prāsaṅgika views are based on Candrakīrti 's critique of Bhāviveka, arguing for a sole reliance on prasaṅga , "logic consequence," a method of reductio ad absurdum which is used by all Mādhyamikas, using syllogisms to point out
18954-403: The mere object can only be discussed if both parties perceive it in the same way. According to Candrakīrti, this is impossible, since the opponents argue from two irreconcilable points of view, namely a mistaken essentialist perception, and a correct non-essentialist perception. This leaves no ground for a discussion starting from a similarly perceived object of discussion, and also makes impossible
19116-411: The most valid method of demonstrating emptiness of inherent existence , and of demonstrating that conventional things do not have a naturally occurring conventional identity. According to Tsongkhapa, if both people in a debate or discussion have a valid understanding of emptiness already, then autonomous syllogistic arguments could be quite effective. However, in a circumstance where one or both parties in
19278-481: The new era; align ideologically, politically, and in action with the Party Central Committee; oppose any splittist tendencies; expose and criticize the Dalai Lama; safeguard the unity of the motherland and ethnic unity and take a firm stand on political issues, taking a clear and distinct stand". The Dalai Lama is a target of Chinese state sponsored hacking. Security experts claim "targeting Tibetan activists
19440-434: The nihilist interpretation from the outset: Nāgārjuna writes: "through explaining true reality as it is, the seeming samvrti does not become disrupted." Candrakirti also responds to the charge of nihilism in his Lucid Words : Therefore, emptiness is taught in order to completely pacify all discursiveness without exception. So if the purpose of emptiness is the complete peace of all discursiveness and you just increase
19602-501: The non-conceptual nature of the ultimate, according to Brunnholzl, the two truths are ultimately inexpressible as either "one" or "different". As noted by Roger Jackson, some non-Buddhist writers, like some Buddhist writers both ancient and modern, have argued that the madhyamaka philosophy is nihilistic . This claim has been challenged by others who argue that it is a Middle Way ( madhyamāpratipad ) between nihilism and eternalism. Madhyamaka philosophers themselves explicitly rejected
19764-466: The notion that one could establish a valid cognition or epistemic proof ( pramana ): If your objects are well established through valid cognitions, tell us how you establish these valid cognitions. If you think they are established through other valid cognitions, there is an infinite regress . Then, the first one is not established, nor are the middle ones, nor the last. If these [valid cognitions] are established even without valid cognition, what you say
19926-562: The nuances of Śāntarakṣita's synthesis, grouping his approach together with Bhāviveka's, due to their usage of syllogistic reasonings to explain and defend Madhyamaka. After the 17th century civil war in Tibet and the Mongol intervention which put the Gelugpa school in the center of power, Tsongkhapa's views dominated Tibetan Buddhism until the 20th century. The Rimé movement revived alternate teachings, providing alternatives to Tsongkhapa's interpretation, and reintroducing Śāntarakṣita's nuances. For
20088-721: The opponent (and perhaps even the proponent) do not fully or deeply understand. While Tsongkhapa's view met with strong resistance after their introduction, his views came to dominate Tibet in the 17th century, with the Ganden Phodrang government, after the military intervention of the Mongol lord Gusri Khan. He supported the Gelugpa's against the Tsangpa family, and put the 5th Dalai Lama in charge of Tibet. Seminal texts which were critical of Tsongkhapa's views, such as Gorampa 's critique, "ceased to be available and were almost lost." Lama Tsongkhapa outline eight key points that differentiate
20250-607: The others. From 1936 the Hui ' Ma Clique ' Muslim warlord Ma Bufang ruled Qinghai as its governor under the nominal authority of the Republic of China central government. According to an interview with the 14th Dalai Lama, in the 1930s, Ma Bufang had seized this north-east corner of Amdo in the name of Chiang Kai-shek 's weak government and incorporated it into the Chinese province of Qinghai . Before going to Taktser, Kewtsang had gone to Ma Bufang to pay his respects. When Ma Bufang heard
20412-466: The philosophical nuances of Śāntarakṣita's approach. A related doctrinal topic of profound disagreement is between Rangtong-Shentong , which concerns the "nature" of ultimate truth as empty of a self or essence, or as constituting an absolute reality which is "truly existing" and empty of any other, transitional phenomena. Initially, this new distinction based on Candrakīrti's Prasannapada met with fierce resistance in Tibet, but gained in popularity and
20574-508: The private office of the Dalai Lama, Tibetan Parliament members, and Tibetan nongovernmental organisations, among others, in 2019. At the outset of the 1959 Tibetan uprising , fearing for his life, the Dalai Lama and his retinue fled Tibet with the help of the CIA 's Special Activities Division , crossing into India on 30 March 1959, reaching Tezpur in Assam on 18 April. Some time later he set up
20736-510: The progress of the country. Tibet and Mongolia have both been poisoned by it.'" In his autobiography, Freedom In Exile , the Dalai Lama recalls: "How could he have thought I was not religious to the core of my being?'" In 1956, on a trip to India to celebrate the Buddha's Birthday , the Dalai Lama asked the Prime Minister of India , Jawaharlal Nehru , if he would allow him political asylum should he choose to stay. Nehru discouraged this as
20898-439: The realm of the ultimate. But this critique is constrained to the methodology, and he believed both approaches reach the same ultimate realization. Mainstream Sakyas (following Rongtön and Gorampa ) also hold the position that the distinction between these two schools is merely of a pedagogical nature. With regard to the view of the ultimate truth there is no difference between them. Kagyu and Sakya scholars have argued against
21060-407: The revolutionary leaders and the top echelon of the Chinese communist leadership who created modern China. He learned Chinese and socialist ideals, as explained by his Chinese hosts, on a tour of China showcasing the benefits of socialism and the effective governance provided to turn the large, impoverished nation into a modern and egalitarian society, which impressed him. In September 1954, he went to
21222-503: The role of head of state at the age of 15, which he did on 17 November 1950. Customarily the Dalai Lama would typically assume control at about the age of 20. He sent a delegation to Beijing, which ratified the Seventeen Point Agreement without his authorisation in 1951. The Dalai Lama believes the draft agreement was written by China. Tibetan representatives were not allowed to suggest any alterations and China did not allow
21384-496: The same ultimate realization. The debate is also not strictly along lineage lines, since there are some non-Gelugpa's who prefer Je Tsongkhapa's points, while a notable Gelugpa, Gendün Chöphel , preferred and wrote about Ju Mipham's interpretation. While Lama Tsongkhapa's approach to Madhyamaka is still viewed as authoritative in the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, the 14th Dalai integrates Gelugpa Madhyamaka with Dzogchen views, as did
21546-516: The sixth chapter of Candrakīrti's Madhyamakāvatāra presented in Mipham's commentarial outline. According to Ju Mipham, Tsongkhapa's approach was seriously flawed. Tsongkhapa's approach leads students in the right direction but will not lead to the true ultimate until they go further. Mipham further argues that Tsongkhapa's approach is an excellent Svātantrika approach, because of the way he refutes true establishment instead of objects themselves. According to
21708-408: The so-called "council of Lhasa," which, according to Tibetan tradition, led to the defeat of the Chinese chan monk Moheyan , and the establishment of Indian Buddhism as the norm for Tibetan Buddhism. Śāntarakṣita synthesised Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, and the logico-epistemological tradition of Dignaga and Dharmakirti. In this synthesis, conventional truth or reality is explained and analysed in terms of
21870-404: The sphere of conventional truth." Instead, he saw conventional phenomena as manifestations of the mind, in line with the Yogācāra approach. Candrakīrti's works were known in Tibet as early as the 8th century, but "specifically in connection with the logical tradition," when Candrakīrti's Yuktishashtika was translated by Yeshe De (Jñanasutra) and some others. The Prāsangika-Svātantrika distinction
22032-520: The study of contemporary Indian Madhyamaka interpretations." Later Gelugpa scholars as well as Nyingmapas, after Candrakīrti's works were translated in Tibetan in the 12th century, considered both of the above to constitute subdivisions of Svātantrika, however, under the names of "Sautrāntika-Svātantrika-Madhyamaka and "Yogācāra-Svātantrika-Madhyamaka." Those various teachers, and their approaches were grouped together due to their usage of syllogistic reasonings to explain and defend Madhyamaka, in disregard of
22194-451: The supremacy of the Madhyamaka view." Candrakīrti (c. 600 – c. 650 CE) had little impact during his lifetime. The first commentary on his Madhyamakāvatāra was written in India in the 11th century, more than 300 years after his death. In the 12th century his works were translated in Tibetan, and became highly influential. Candrakīrti rejected Bhāviveka's criticism of Buddhapālita, and his use of independent logic. According to Candrakīrti,
22356-616: The temples in Tibet. This gave the Gelugpa school a strong political power, and the means to effectively ban the writings of Tsongkhapa's critics. For Tsongkhapa, the Svātantrika–Prāsaṅgika distinction centers around the usage of autonomous syllogistic reasoning to convince opponents of the Madhyamaka point of view, and the implications of the establishment of conventional existence 'according to characteristics'. Tsongkhapa objected against Bhaviveka's use of autonomous syllogistic reasoning in explaining voidness or essencelessness. To be able to use syllogistic reasoning, both parties need to have
22518-486: The thought that he does exist, but it is also delusive". In other words, madhyamaka thinkers accept that their arguments, just like all things, are not ultimately valid in some foundational sense. But one is still able to use the opponent's own reasoning apparatus in the conventional field to refute their theories and help them see their errors. This remedial deconstruction does not replace false theories of existence with other ones, but simply dissolves all views, including
22680-514: The time, the village of Taktser stood right on the "real border" between the region of Amdo and China. According to the search lore, when the team visited, posing as pilgrims, its leader, a Sera Lama, pretended to be the servant and sat separately in the kitchen. He held an old mala that had belonged to the 13th Dalai Lama, and the boy Lhamo Dhondup, aged two, approached and asked for it. The monk said "if you know who I am, you can have it." The child said "Sera Lama, Sera Lama" and spoke with him in
22842-616: The traditionally Buddhist republic of Kalmykia . The President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Chen Shui-bian , attended an evening celebrating the Dalai Lama's birthday at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei. In October 2008 in Japan, the Dalai Lama addressed the 2008 Tibetan violence that had erupted and that the Chinese government accused him of fomenting. He responded that he had "lost faith" in efforts to negotiate with
23004-472: The ultimate. This is often called "the emptiness of emptiness" and refers to the fact that even though madhyamikas speak of emptiness as the ultimate unconditioned nature of things, this emptiness is itself empty of any real existence. The two truths themselves are therefore just a practical tool used to teach others, but do not exist within the actual meditative equipoise that realizes the ultimate. As Candrakirti says: "the noble ones who have accomplished what
23166-448: The use of "three sovereign reasoning", which are three absurd consequences deriving from the separation between the two truths emphasized by the Svātantrikas. They are: (1) the āryas' meditation on emptiness would destroy phenomena; (2) production according to its characteristics could not be disproved on the ultimate level; and (3) the conventional truth would resist absolute analysis. These correspond respectively to stanzas 34, 36 and 35 in
23328-414: The use of syllogistic reasoning to convince the opponent. According to Candrakīrti, without a conventionally appearing set of characteristics to designate upon, the Svātantrika would not be able to establish a syllogism. Candrakīrti also rejected Bhāviveka's argument that autonomous arguments should be used in commentaries to clarify the original text, noting that Nāgārjuna himself, in his auto-commentary on
23490-419: The very fictional system of epistemic warrants ( pramanas ) used to establish them. The point of madhyamaka reasoning is not to establish any abstract validity or universal truth, it is simply a pragmatic project aimed at ending delusion and suffering. Nāgārjuna also argues that madhyamaka only negates things conventionally, since ultimately, there is nothing there to negate: "I do not negate anything and there
23652-421: The way that they appear," invalidating the conventional reality of appearances. From there, "the ultimate truth in itself, which is completely free from all assertion, is reached." While the Svātantrikas do make assertions about conventional truth or reality, they stay silent on the ultimate in itself, just like the Prāsaṅgikas. In the light of Mipham's writings, the Prāsaṅgikas reject the Svātantrikas' approach by
23814-630: The way the world appears and therefore some kind of practice to lead to this shift. As Candrakirti says: For one on the road of cyclic existence who pursues an inverted view due to ignorance , a mistaken object such as the superimposition ( samāropa ) on the aggregates appears as real, but it does not appear to one who is close to the view of the real nature of things. Much of madhyamaka philosophy centers on showing how various essentialist ideas have absurd conclusions through reductio ad absurdum arguments (known as prasanga in Sanskrit). Chapter 15 of Nāgārjuna 's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā centers on
23976-405: The web of discursiveness by thinking that the meaning of emptiness is nonexistence, you do not realize the purpose of emptiness [at all]. This although some scholars (e.g., Murti) interpret emptiness as described by Nāgārjuna as a Buddhist transcendental absolute , other scholars (such as David Kalupahana ) consider this claim a mistake, since then emptiness teachings could not be characterized as
24138-427: The words svabhava parabhava bhava and abhava . According to Peter Harvey: Nagarjuna's critique of the notion of own-nature ( Mk. ch. 15) argues that anything which arises according to conditions, as all phenomena do, can have no inherent nature, for what is depends on what conditions it. Moreover, if there is nothing with own-nature, there can be nothing with 'other-nature' ( para-bhava ), i.e. something which
24300-565: The works of The name Prāsaṅgika is derived from Prasaṅga , a method of logical inquiry which deconstructs the opponents' argument in debate through the use of unwanted logical consequences. It arises from Bhāvaviveka 's criticism that Buddhapālita ought not to have relied solely on reductio ad absurdum argumentation —hence the name "Prāsangika", from prāsanga ("consequence")—but ought to have set forth "autonomous" ( svātantra ) syllogisms of his own. Bhāviveka (c. 500 – c. 578 CE) argued that autonomous syllogistic reasoning
24462-413: The world outside Lhasa . The two remained friends until Harrer's death in 2006. Historically the Dalai Lamas or their regents held political and religious leadership over Tibet from Lhasa with varying degrees of influence depending on the regions of Tibet and periods of history. This began with the 5th Dalai Lama 's rule in 1642 and lasted until the 1950s (except for 1705–1750), during which period
24624-406: The world. Because the ultimate is itself empty, it is also explained as a "transcendence of deception" and hence is a kind of apophatic truth which experiences the lack of substance. Because the nature of ultimate reality is said to be empty, empty even of "emptiness" itself, both the concept of "emptiness" and the very framework of the two truths are also mere conventional realities, not part of
24786-450: Was "part of a wider rejection of the logico-epistemological tradition of Dignāga, which he regarded as a misguided attempt to find "philosophical completeness" and a sense of intellectual security that is antithetical to the fundamental insight of Madhyamaka." Candrakīrti did not reject the use of logic, but it served to demarcate the limits of discursive thought. In the absence of any agreement between Mādhyamikas and substantialists, prasaṅga
24948-601: Was awarded the Lharampa degree , the highest-level geshe degree, roughly equivalent to a doctorate in Buddhist philosophy . According to the Dalai Lama, he had a succession of tutors in Tibet including Reting Rinpoche , Tathag Rinpoche, Ling Rinpoche and lastly Trijang Rinpoche , who became junior tutor when he was 19 At the age of 11 he met the Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer , who became his videographer and tutor about
25110-697: Was dropped, since the Muslim merchants invited them to join their caravan for protection; Ma Bufang sent 20 of his soldiers with them and was paid from both sides since the Chinese government granted him another 50,000 dollars for the expenses of the journey. Furthermore, the Indian government helped the Tibetans raise the ransom funds by affording them import concessions. On 22 September 1938, representatives of Tibet Office in Beijing informed Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission that 3 candidates were found and ceremony of Golden Urn would be held in Tibet. In October 1938,
25272-528: Was established in 1959 and the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies became the primary university for Tibetans in India in 1967. He supported the refounding of 200 monasteries and nunneries in an attempt to preserve Tibetan Buddhist teachings and the Tibetan way of life. The Dalai Lama appealed to the United Nations on the rights of Tibetans. This appeal resulted in three resolutions adopted by
25434-410: Was interpreted, the direction in which his successor would be found. The Regent , Reting Rinpoche , shortly afterwards had a vision at the sacred lake of Lhamo La-tso which he interpreted as Amdo being the region to search. This vision was also interpreted to refer to a large monastery with a gilded roof and turquoise tiles, and a twisting path from there to a hill to the east, opposite which stood
25596-405: Was possibly invented by the Tibetan translator Pa tshab nyi ma grags (1055–1145), using the terms Rang rgyud pa and Thal 'gyur ba , which were Sanskritized by modern scholars as Svātantrika and Prāsaṅgika . According to Dreyfus and McClintock, Tibetan scholars themselves state that the distinction "is a Tibetan creation that was retroactively applied in an attempt to bring clarity and order to
25758-454: Was quite a good religion, and Lord Buddha, although he was a prince, had given a good deal of thought to the question of improving the conditions of the people. He also observed that the Goddess Tara was a kind-hearted woman. After a very few minutes, he left. I was quite bewildered by these remarks and did not know what to make of them.' The comments Mao made during their last meeting shocked
25920-665: Was reportedly unhappy about the position he had during the ceremony. Afterward an article appeared in the Chinese press falsely claiming that Wu personally announced the installation of the Dalai Lama, who supposedly prostrated himself to Wu in gratitude. After his enthronement, the Dalai Lama's childhood was then spent between the Potala Palace and Norbulingka , his summer residence, both of which are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites . Chiang Kai Shek ordered Ma Bufang to put his Muslim soldiers on alert for an invasion of Tibet in 1942. Ma Bufang complied, and moved several thousand troops to
26082-400: Was required when explaining or commenting on Nagarjuna's teachings on voidness or essencelessness. To be able to use syllogistic reasoning, both parties need to share a common object of discussion at the conventional level. While the various opponents have different opinions on the specifics of their teachings, the mere objects or mere forms are commonly appearing to both parties, "enjoy[ing]
26244-488: Was strongly supported by Je Tsongkhapa (1357 – 1419 CE). He became the most outspoken defender of the Svātantrika-Prāsaṅgika distinction, arguing that "the two subschools are separated by crucial philosophical differences, including a different understanding of emptiness and of conventional reality." Tsongkhapa was a powerful personality with a large following, but he too met with a strong resistance, especially within
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