scholarly journals The Truth about Śrīgupta’s Two Truths: Longchen Rabjampa’s “Lower Svātantrikas” and the Making of a New Philosophical School

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-225
Author(s):  
Allison Aitken
Keyword(s):  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Buddhist Philosophy ◽  
Tibetan Buddhist ◽  
Two Truths ◽  
Philosophical School ◽  
Intellectual Milieu

Abstract Longchen Rabjampa (1308–64), scholar of the Tibetan Buddhist Nyingma tradition, presents a novel doxographical taxonomy of the so-called Svātantrika branch of Madhyamaka Buddhist philosophy, which designates the Indian Mādhyamika Śrīgupta (c. 7th/8th century) as the exemplar of a Svātantrika sub-school according to which appearance and emptiness are metaphysically distinct. This paper compares Longchenpa’s characterization of this “distinct-appearance-and-emptiness” view with Śrīgupta’s own account of the two truths. I expose a significant disconnect between Longchenpa’s Śrīgupta and Śrīgupta himself and argue that the impetus for Longchenpa’s doxographical innovation originates not in Buddhist India, but within his own Tibetan intellectual milieu, tracing back to his twelfth-century Sangpu Monastery predecessors, Gyamarwa and Chapa.

The Madhyamaka Contribution to Skepticism

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-26
Author(s):  
Georges Dreyfus ◽  
Jay L. Garfield
Keyword(s):  
Indian Philosophy ◽  
Buddhist Philosophy ◽  
Western Philosophy ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Scientific Practices ◽  
Tibetan Buddhist ◽  
Western Tradition ◽  
Two Truths ◽  
Conventional Practice

Abstract This paper examines the work of Nāgārjuna as interpreted by later Madhyamaka tradition, including the Tibetan Buddhist Tsongkhapa (1357–1419). It situates Madhyamaka skepticism in the context of Buddhist philosophy, Indian philosophy more generally, and Western equivalents. Find it broadly akin to Pyrrhonism, it argues that Madhyamaka skepticism still differs from its Greek equivalents in fundamental methodologies. Focusing on key hermeneutical principles like the two truths and those motivating the Svātantrika/Prāsaṅgika schism (i.e., whether followers of Nāgārjuna should offer positive arguments or should proceed on a purely “negative” basis), it argues that the Svātantrika commitment to mere conventional practice is robust and allows for a skepticism consistent with the scientific practices we must take seriously in the modern world. These findings are put forth as an illustration of what the Western tradition might gain by better understanding of non-Western philosophy.

scholarly journals Psychological and Societal Implications of Projecting the Shadow on the Feminine in Tibetan Buddhist Contexts

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Iris Miriam Anders
Keyword(s):  
Physical Abuse ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Buddhist Philosophy ◽  
Societal Implications ◽  
Tibetan Buddhist ◽  
Societal Challenges ◽  
Mental Diseases ◽  
The Feminine ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact

Idealizing and medicalizing of methods ascribed to Buddhism has led to individualizing their structural and societal challenges. Although the long-undervalued need for introspection may get addressed, people are now caught under the cloak of spirituality hoping for quick enlightenment or a panacea solving mental diseases. Thus, at this point, the impact of decontextualizing concepts, unreflectively copying feudal structures into Tibetan Buddhist seminar- and meditation-centers, as well as of lacking knowledge required for the gradual application-oriented learning processes taught in traditional Buddhist philosophy have become clear. This shows in recent testimony of economical, psychological, and physical abuse in international Tibetan Buddhist organizations. The violence against individuals and man-made trauma in such contexts need to get analyzed before the background of neologisms, that is concepts allowing for arbitrariness and violence in the name of spirituality, as well as of the sophisticated systems of rationalizing damage and silencing trauma and victims. Furthermore, though those in the ‘inner circles’ run the risk of traumatization and of being held accountable, it is women who are at higher risk, particularly those who engage in secret relationships. Thus, in terms of treatment, the collectively projecting the shadow on the feminine, leading to an attitude of exploitation and control against women, requires consideration.

scholarly journals Generative Meditations: Exploring Generative Art From the Perspective of Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Benjamin Jack
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Buddhism ◽  
Human Experience ◽  
Buddhist Philosophy ◽  
Computational Creativity ◽  
Tibetan Buddhist ◽  
Generative Art ◽  
Generative Processes

<p>the purpose of this thesis is to document and explore the subjective struggles I have encountered in my own practise as a generative artist rather than to provide an objective overview of computational generative art. Hopefully this process will give some context from the ground up (from an artist’s perspective) to some of the larger questions that I and others in the field are asking about generative art.  From the preliminary questions arising from these struggles I begin to explore and develop a generative art practise that primarily focuses on the topics of human experience and ideas directly related to human experience. This is opposed to using generative processes to explore ideas fundamentally based on computation (a-life, emergence, computational creativity, and data etc..). The foundation of, and reasons behind, such a focus are based on the non-realist and non-materialist philosophical tenets of Tibetan Buddhism, in particular the philosophy of the Madhyamika-Prasangika school of thought. The purpose of developing a generative practise based on the philosophy and symbolism of Tibetan Buddhism is to find a method to create personally relevant artwork with a firm foundation in a well established culture of art and philosophy. I might add however, that this isn’t merely a self-reflective exercise but rather it should be of interest to others in the field of (and study of) Generative art to see how this artistic method might be approached from a vastly different philosophical stance to the materialist view that receives the majority of attention in the field.</p>

Tibetan philosophy

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom J.F. Tillemans
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Language ◽  
Eighth Century ◽  
Buddhist Philosophy ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Two Truths ◽  
Buddhist Logic ◽  
Great Debate ◽  
Analysis And Synthesis ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Buddha

Tibetan philosophy – if we can make a rough separation between what is predominantly argument-oriented and analytical and what is more a question of ritual, devotion or vision – is best characterized as a form of scholasticism. It exhibits marked parallels with philosophy in Western medieval contexts, including a heavy emphasis on logic, philosophy of language and metaphysics, all in the service of exegesis of religious doctrine found in root texts. Just as in Western scholasticism, there is a reliance upon scripture, but within that traditional context there is also ample room for rational analysis and synthesis of potentially disparate doctrines, as well as a considerable quantity of argumentation which is a type of ‘fine tuning’ of Indian issues. Tibetan thinkers explored matters which are often of genuine importance in our understanding of Indian texts. In particular, in Mādhyamika Buddhist philosophy we find an important synthesis of Indian Yogācāra ideas with a relatively natural interpretation of key ideas in the literature on the Buddha-nature (tathāgatagarbha); we also find important debates on the nature of the two truths, the status of means of valid cognition (pramāṇas), and on questions of philosophical method, such as the possibility or impossibility of Mādhyamikas holding theses and themselves defending positions. Beginning with the Great Debate of bSam-yas (Samyay) in the latter part of the eighth century, we find constantly recurring reflection on questions concerning the nature of spiritual realizations and the role of conceptual and analytic thought in leading to such insights. In the logico-epistemological literature, the hotly debated issues generally centre around the problem of universals, the Indian Buddhist philosophy of language and the theory of the triply characterized logical reason (trirūpahetu). In addition, the Tibetans developed an elaborate logic of debate, an indigenous system containing many original elements unknown in or even alien to Indian Buddhist logic.

scholarly journals Generative Meditations: Exploring Generative Art From the Perspective of Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Benjamin Jack
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Buddhism ◽  
Human Experience ◽  
Buddhist Philosophy ◽  
Computational Creativity ◽  
Tibetan Buddhist ◽  
Generative Art ◽  
Generative Processes

<p>the purpose of this thesis is to document and explore the subjective struggles I have encountered in my own practise as a generative artist rather than to provide an objective overview of computational generative art. Hopefully this process will give some context from the ground up (from an artist’s perspective) to some of the larger questions that I and others in the field are asking about generative art.  From the preliminary questions arising from these struggles I begin to explore and develop a generative art practise that primarily focuses on the topics of human experience and ideas directly related to human experience. This is opposed to using generative processes to explore ideas fundamentally based on computation (a-life, emergence, computational creativity, and data etc..). The foundation of, and reasons behind, such a focus are based on the non-realist and non-materialist philosophical tenets of Tibetan Buddhism, in particular the philosophy of the Madhyamika-Prasangika school of thought. The purpose of developing a generative practise based on the philosophy and symbolism of Tibetan Buddhism is to find a method to create personally relevant artwork with a firm foundation in a well established culture of art and philosophy. I might add however, that this isn’t merely a self-reflective exercise but rather it should be of interest to others in the field of (and study of) Generative art to see how this artistic method might be approached from a vastly different philosophical stance to the materialist view that receives the majority of attention in the field.</p>

Literature, Innovation, and Buddhist Philosophy: Shabkar’s Nine Emanated Scriptures

Numen ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel H. Pang
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Background ◽  
Buddhist Philosophy ◽  
Religion And Literature ◽  
Tibetan Buddhist ◽  
Textual Structure ◽  
Tibetan Studies ◽  
The Relationship

This article is about the Tibetan Buddhist poet-saint Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol’s (1781–1851) nine “emanated scriptures” (Tibetan,sprul pa’i glegs bam). Described by Shabkar as being “unprecedented,” the “emanated scripture” is the single largest genre represented in hisCollected Works. In this article, I examine the significance of the emanated scripture using a literary perspective that remains cognizant of the texts’ original religio-cultural background. After considering the Buddhist philosophical context in which Shabkar understood his nine emanated scriptures, I demonstrate how an analysis of simile, intertextuality, textual structure, and style: (1) illuminates facets of the texts that may have otherwise remained unnoticed in traditional Buddhist contexts, (2) modifies the prevalent notion in Buddhist and Tibetan studies that traditional Tibetan society did not value newness, and (3) represents an important step towards understanding Shabkar’s written legacy and the relationship between religion and literature in comparative religious contexts.

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