The Other Emptiness

Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in Tibet

Michael R. Sheehy,Klaus-Dieter Mathes

• Publisher: SUNY Press
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781438477596
• Topic: Théologie et religion
• Subtopic: Bouddhisme

This book brings together perspectives of leading international Tibetan studies scholars on the subject of zhentong or "other-emptiness." Defined as the emptiness of everything other than the continuous luminous awareness that is one's own enlightened nature, this distinctive philosophical and contemplative presentation of emptiness is quite different from rangtong —emptiness that lacks independent existence, which has had a strong influence on the dissemination of Buddhist philosophy in the West. Important topics are addressed, including the history, literature, and philosophy of emptiness that have contributed to zhentong thinking in Tibet from the thirteenth century until today. The contributors examine a wide range of views on zhentong from each of the major orders of Tibetan Buddhism, highlighting the key Tibetan thinkers in the zhentong philosophical tradition. Also discussed are the early formulations of buddhanature, interpretations of cosmic time, polemical debates about emptiness in Tibet, the zhentong view of contemplation, and creative innovations of thought in Tibetan Buddhism. Highly accessible and informative, this book can be used as a scholarly resource as well as a textbook for teaching graduate and undergraduate courses on Buddhist philosophy.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction The Philosophical Grounds and Literary History of Zhentong
• Chapter 1 Bodhigarbha: Preliminary Notes on an Early Dzokchen Family of Buddha-Nature Concepts
• Chapter 2 On the Inclusion of Chomden Rikpai Raldri in Transmission Lineages of Zhentong
• Chapter 3 The Dharma of the Perfect Eon: Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen’s Hermeneutics of Time and the Jonang Doxography of Zhentong Madhyamaka
• Chapter 4 Buddha-Nature in Garungpa Lhai Gyaltsen’s Lamp That Illuminates the Expanse of Reality and among Tibetan Intellectuals
• Chapter 5 Zhentong Views in the Karma Kagyu Order
• Chapter 6 Buddha-Nature: “Natural Awareness Endowed with Buddha Qualities” as Expounded by Zhamar Kacho Wangpo
• Chapter 7 “There Are No Dharmas Apart from the Dharma-Sphere”: Shakya Chokden’s Interpretation of the Dharma-Sphere
• Chapter 8 Tāranātha’s Twenty-One Differences with Regard to the Profound Meaning: Comparing the Views of the Two Zhentong Masters Dolpopa and Shakya Chokden
• Chapter 9 Zhentong Traces in the Nyingma Tradition: Two Texts from Mindroling
• Chapter 10 Zhentong as Yogācāra: Mipam’s Madhyamaka Synthesis
• Chapter 11 Where Buddhas and Siddhas Meet: Mipam’s Yuganaddhavāda Philosophy
• Chapter 12 Along the Middle Path in the Quest for Wisdom: The Great Madhyamaka in Rimé Discourses
• Chapter 13 The Zhentong Lion Roars: Dzamtang Khenpo Lodro Drakpa and the Jonang Scholastic Renaissance
• Contributors
• Index
• Back Cover