Śāntarakṣita
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Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
: शान्तरक्षित; , 725–788),stanford.edu
Śāntarakṣita (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
/ref> whose name translates into English as "protected by the One who is at peace" was an important and influential Indian
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
philosopher, particularly for the
Tibetan Buddhist Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Darjeeling, Sikkim, and Arunachal Prades ...
tradition. Śāntarakṣita was a
philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
of the
Madhyamaka Madhyamaka ("middle way" or "centrism"; ; ; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: དབུ་མ་པ་ ; ''dbu ma pa''), otherwise known as Śūnyavāda ("the Śūnyatā, emptiness doctrine") and Niḥsvabhāvavāda ("the no Svabhava, ''svabhāva'' d ...
school who studied at
Nalanda Nalanda (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) was a renowned Buddhism, Buddhist ''mahavihara'' (great monastery) in medieval Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha (modern-day Bihar), eastern India. Widely considered to be am ...
monastery under Jñānagarbha, and became the founder of Samye, the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet. Śāntarakṣita defended a synthetic philosophy which combined
Madhyamaka Madhyamaka ("middle way" or "centrism"; ; ; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: དབུ་མ་པ་ ; ''dbu ma pa''), otherwise known as Śūnyavāda ("the Śūnyatā, emptiness doctrine") and Niḥsvabhāvavāda ("the no Svabhava, ''svabhāva'' d ...
,
Yogācāra Yogachara (, IAST: ') is an influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through the interior lens of meditation, as well as philosophical reasoning (hetuvidyā). ...
and the logico-epistemology of
Dharmakirti Dharmakīrti (fl. ;), was an influential Indian Buddhist philosopher who worked at Nālandā.Tom Tillemans (2011)Dharmakirti Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy He was one of the key scholars of epistemology ( pramāṇa) in Buddhist philo ...
into a novel Madhyamaka philosophical system.Blumenthal (2018) This philosophical approach is known as ''Yogācāra-Mādhyamika'' or ''Yogācāra-Svatantrika-Mādhyamika'' in Tibetan Buddhism. Unlike other Madhyamaka philosophers, Śāntarakṣita accepted Yogācāra doctrines like mind-only (''cittamatra'') and self-reflective awareness (''svasamvedana''), but only on the level of conventional truth.Blumenthal (2004), pp. 22-24. According to James Blumenthal, this synthesis is the final major development in Indian Buddhist philosophy before the disappearance of Buddhism from India (c. 12-13th centuries).


Biography

There are few historical records of Śāntarakṣita, with most available material being from
hagiographic A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an wiktionary:adulatory, adulatory and idealized biography of a preacher, priest, founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religi ...
sources. Some of his history is detailed in a 19th-century commentary by Jamgon Ju Mipham Gyatso drawn from sources like the '' Blue Annals'',
Buton Buton (also Butung, Boeton or Button) is an island in Indonesia located off the southeast peninsula of Sulawesi. It covers roughly 4,727 square kilometers in area, or about the size of Madura; it is the 129th List of islands by area, largest is ...
and Taranatha. According to Ju Mipham, Śāntarakṣita was the son of the king of Zahor. Some sources have identified Zahor with the area surrounding
Bhagalpur Bhagalpur, historically known as Champapuri, Champa Nagari, is a city in the Indian state of Bihar, situated on the southern bank of the Ganges river. It is the Bihar#Government and administration, third largest city of Bihar by population and ...
and Banka in eastern
Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
. Tibetan sources refer to him, Jñānagarbha and Kamalasila as ''rang rgyud shar gsum'' meaning the "three eastern Svātantrikas".Shantarakshita & Ju Mipham (2005) pp.2–3 Most sources contain little information about his life in India, as such all that can be known is that he was an Indian monk in the Mulasarvastivada lineage who lived during the time of the
Pala Empire The Pāla Empire was the empire ruled by the Pala dynasty, ("protector" in Sanskrit) a medieval Indian dynasty which ruled the kingdom of Gauda Kingdom, Gauda. The empire was founded with the election of Gopala, Gopāla by the chiefs of Kingdo ...
. Tibetan sources also state he studied under Jñānagarbha and eventually became the abbot of
Nalanda Nalanda (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) was a renowned Buddhism, Buddhist ''mahavihara'' (great monastery) in medieval Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha (modern-day Bihar), eastern India. Widely considered to be am ...
University after mastering all branches of learning. He was first invited to Tibet by king Trisong Detsen (c. 742–797) to help establish Buddhism there and his first trip to Tibet can be dated to 763. However, according to Tibetan sources like the '' Blue Annals,'' his first trip was unsuccessful and due to the activities of certain local spirits, he was forced to leave.Blumenthal (2004), p. 26. He then spent six years in Nepal before returning to Tibet. Tibetan sources then state that Śāntarakṣita later returned along with a tantric adept called
Padmasambhava Padmasambhava ('Born from a Lotus'), also known as Guru Rinpoche ('Precious Guru'), was a legendary tantric Buddhist Vajracharya, Vajra master from Oddiyana. who fully revealed the Vajrayana in Tibet, circa 8th – 9th centuries... He is consi ...
who performed the necessary magical rites to appease the unhappy spirits and to allow for the establishment of the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet. Once this was done, Śāntarakṣita oversaw the construction of Samye monastery (meaning: "the Inconceivable", Skt. ''acintya'') starting in 775 CE on the model of the Indian monastery of Uddaṇḍapura.Banerjee, AC (1982) "Acarya Santaraksita"
/ref> He then ordained the first seven Tibetan Buddhist monastics there with the aid of twelve Indian monks (circa 779). He stayed at Samye as the abbot (''upadhyaya'') for the rest of his life (thirteen years after completion). At Samye, Śāntarakṣita established a Buddhist monastic curriculum based on the Indian model. He also oversaw the translation of Buddhist scriptures into Tibetan. During this period, various other Indian scholars came to Tibet to work on translation, including
Vimalamitra Vimalamitra () was an 8th-century Indian Buddhist monk. His teachers were Buddhaguhya, Jnanasutra, Jñānasūtra and Sri Singha, Śrī Siṃha. He was supposed to have vowed to take rebirth every hundred years, with the most notable figures bein ...
, Buddhaguhya, Śāntigarbha and Viśuddhasiṃha. Tibetan sources state that he died suddenly in an accident after being kicked by a horse.


Philosophy and teachings

According to Tibetan sources, Śāntarakṣita and his students initially focused on teaching the 'ten good actions' (Sanskrit: ''daśakuśalakarmapatha''), the six paramitas (transcendent virtues), a summary of the
Mahāyāna Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main ex ...
and 'the chain of dependent origination' ('' pratītyasamutpāda'').Dargyay, Eva M. (author) & Wayman, Alex (editor) (1977, 1998). ''The Rise of Esoteric Buddhism in Tibet''. Second revised edition, reprint. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt Ltd. Buddhist Tradition Series Vol. 32. (paper), p.7 Tibetan sources indicate that he and his student Kamalaśīla mainly taught a gradual path to
Buddhahood In Buddhism, Buddha (, which in classic Indo-Aryan languages, Indic languages means "awakened one") is a title for those who are Enlightenment in Buddhism, spiritually awake or enlightened, and have thus attained the Buddhist paths to liberat ...
(most thoroughly outlined in the '' Bhāvanākrama'' of Kamalaśīla). Ju Mipham writes that when he came to Tibet, "he set forth the ten good virtues, the eighteen dhatus, and the twelve fold chain of dependent arising." Śāntarakṣita is best known for his syncretic interpretation of Madhyamaka philosophy which also makes use of Yogācāra and Dharmakirtian epistemology. His Madhyamaka view is most clearly outlined in his ''Madhyamakālaṃkāra'' (''The Ornament of the Middle Way'') and his own commentary on that text, the ''Madhyamakālaṃkāravṛtti'' (''The Auto-Commentary on The Ornament of the Middle Way''). Śāntarakṣita is not the first Buddhist thinker to attempt a synthesis of Madhyamaka thought with Yogācāra. Though Śāntarakṣita is often regarded as the leading exponent of this approach, earlier figures such as Vimuktisena, Srigupta and Śāntarakṣita's teacher Jñānagarbha had already written from a similar syncretic perspective. Like other Indian Madhyamaka thinkers, Śāntarakṣita explains the ontological status of phenomena through the use of the doctrine of the "two truths": the ultimate (''paramārtha'') and the conventional ('' saṃvṛti''). While in an ultimate or absolute sense, all phenomena as seen by Madhyamaka as being "empty" (''shunya'') of essence or inherent nature ('' svabhāva''), they can be said to have some kind of conventional, nominal or provisional existence. James Blumenthal summarizes Śāntarakṣita's syncretic view thus: "Śāntarakṣita advocates a Madhyamaka perspective when describing ultimate truths, and a Yogācāra perspective when describing conventional truths." According to Blumenthal, Śāntarakṣita's thought also emphasized the importance of studying the "lower" Buddhist schools. These lesser views were "seen as integral stepping stones on the ascent to his presentation of what he considered to be the ultimately correct view of Madhyamaka". This way of using a doxographic hierarchy to present Buddhist philosophy remains influential in Tibetan Buddhist thought.


Ultimate Truth and neither-one-nor-many

Like other Madhyamaka thinkers, Śāntarakṣita sees the ultimate truth as being the emptiness of all phenomena (i.e., their lack of inherent existence or
essence Essence () has various meanings and uses for different thinkers and in different contexts. It is used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property (philosophy), property or set of properties or attributes that make an entity the ...
). He makes use of the "neither-one-nor-many argument" in his ''Madhyamakālaṃkāra'' as a way to argue for emptiness. The basic position is outlined by the following stanza:
These entities, as asserted by our own uddhist schoolsand other on-Buddhist schools have no inherent nature at all because in reality they have neither a singular nor manifold nature, like a reflected image.
The main idea in his argument is that any given phenomenon (i.e. ''dharma''), cannot be said to have an inherent nature or essence (i.e. ''svabhāva''), because such a nature cannot be proven to exist either as a singular nature (''ekasvabhāva'') or as a multiplicity of natures (''anekasvabhāva''). In the ''Madhyamakālaṃkāra'', Śāntarakṣita analyses all the different phenomena posited by Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools through the neither-one-nor-many schema, proving that they cannot be shown to exist as a single thing or as a manifold collection of many phenomena. Śāntarakṣita usually begins by looking at any phenomenon that is asserted by his interlocutor as having a truly singular nature and then showing how it cannot actually be singular. For example, when analyzing the
Sāṃkhya Samkhya or Sankhya (; ) is a Dualism (Indian philosophy), dualistic Āstika and nāstika, orthodox school of Hindu philosophy. It views reality as composed of two independent principles, ''purusha, Puruṣa'' ('consciousness' or spirit) and ''P ...
school's doctrine of a Fundamental Nature ('' Prakṛti'', the permanent, un-caused absolute cause of everything), Śāntarakṣita states that this permanent and fundamental nature cannot be truly singular because it "contributes to the production of successive effects." Since "each successive effect is distinct", then this fundamental nature which is contributing to all these different effects arising at different times is not really singular. After critiquing the non-Buddhist ideas, Śāntarakṣita turns his arguments against Buddhist ideas, such as the theory of ''svabhāva,'' the theory of atoms (''paramanu''), the theory of the person (''pudgala''), theories regarding space (''akasa'') and
nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...
. He also critiques the Sautrantika and Yogacara Buddhists who held that consciousness (''
vijñāna ''Vijñāna'' () or ''viññāa'' ()As is standard in WP articles, the Pali term ''viññāa'' will be used when discussing the Pali literature, and the Sanskrit word ''vijñāna'' will be used when referring to either texts chronologically subse ...
'') is truly singular and yet knows a variety of objects. In his analysis of consciousness, Śāntarakṣita concludes that it is just like other entities in the sense that it can be neither unitary nor multiple. Therefore, he (like other Madhyamikas) refuses to assign any ultimate reality to consciousness and sees it as empty of any inherent nature.Ruegg, David Seyfort (1981) ''The Literature of the Madhyamaka School of Philosophy in India'', p. 92. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden Furthermore, he also critiques the Yogacara theory of the three natures. Śāntarakṣita then turns to a critique of the idea that there is a truly manifold nature in phenomena. Śāntarakṣita's main argument here is that any manifold nature or essence would depend on an aggregation of singular essences. But since singular essences have been proven to be irrational, then there can also be no manifold essence. Because of this, phenomena cannot have any inherent nature or essence at all, since the very idea of such a thing is irrational.


The Conventional

All Madhyamikas agree on an anti-essentialist view which rejects all permanent essences, inherent natures, or true existence. However, they do not all agree on conventional truth, that is, the best way of describing how it is that phenomena "exist" in a relative sense. In his ''Madhyamakālaṃkāra'', Śāntarakṣita argues that phenomena which are "characterized only by conventionality" are those phenomena that "are generated and disintegrate and those that have the ability to function." According to Blumenthal, the main criteria for conventional entities given by Śāntarakṣita in his ''Madhyamakālaṃkāra'' and its commentary are the following: # that which is known by a mind, # that which has the ability to function (''i.e.'', that it is causally efficacious), # that which is impermanent, and # that which is unable to withstand analysis which searches for an ultimate nature or essence in entities. Furthermore, causal efficacy and impermanence are qualities that conventional truths have due to the fact that they are dependently originated, that is, they arise due to causes and conditions which are themselves impermanent (and so on). Also, conventional truths are described by Śāntarakṣita as being known by conceptual thought and designated based on worldly custom. One important element of Śāntarakṣita's presentation of conventional truth is that he also incorporates certain views from the Yogācāra school, mainly the idea that conventional phenomena are just consciousness as well as the concept of self-cognizing consciousness or reflexive awareness ('' svasamvedana''). The ''Madhyamakālaṃkāra'' argues in favor of the Yogācāra position on a conventional level and states that "that which is cause and result is mere consciousness only". Thus, Śāntarakṣita incorporates the Yogācāra school's analysis into his Madhyamaka framework as a useful way of understanding conventional reality and as a stepping stone to the highest view of emptiness of all phenomena.


Works

Around 11 works may have been written by Śāntarakṣita, some survive in Tibetan translation and others in Sanskrit. Some of his texts survive in Jain libraries, showing that he was a figure that was taken seriously even by some of his non-Buddhist opponents. His main known works include:Eltschinger (2019) * ''*Aṣṭatathāgatastotra'' (D 1166/ P 2055), a short praise. * ''*Śrīva-jradharasaṅgītibhagavatstotraṭīkā'' (D 1163/ P 2052), a short praise. * ''Tattvasiddhi'' (D 39a1/ P 42a8), a philosophical defense of tantra, the authorship is doubtful. * ''Saṅvaraviṃśakavṛtti'' (D 4082/ P 5583), focuses on the training and practice of a bodhisattva and is actually a commentary on Candragomin's ''Bodhisattvasaṃvaraviṃśaka.'' It is also related to the ''Bodhisattvabhumi.'' * ''Satyadvayavibhaṅgapañjikā'' (D 3883/ P 5283), an extensive commentary on Jñānagarbha's ''Satyadvayavibhaṅga.'' The authorship has been questioned by various scholars, including some Tibetans like Tsongkhapa and Taranatha. * ''Paramārthaviniścaya'', now lost. * ''Vādanyāyaṭīkā vipañcitārthā'' (D 4239/ P 5725), a commentary on Dharmakīrti's Vādanyāya. * ''Tattvasaṅgraha'', a massive polemical compendium of Indian philosophy covering Buddhist and non-Buddhist views. There is also a commentary on this text by Kamalaśīla. * ''Madhyamakālaṅkāra'' and its autocommentary, the ''Madhyamakālaṅkāravṛtti''. This is his main exposition of his synthetic Madhyamaka views. Kamalaśīla also composed a commentary to this text, the ''Madhyamakālaṅkārapañjikā''.


''Tattvasaṅgraha''

Śāntarakṣita's '' Tattvasaṅgraha'' (''Compendium on Reality''/''Truth'') is a huge and encyclopaedic treatment (over 3,600 verses distributed into 26 chapters) of the major Indian philosophic views of the time. In this text, the author outlines the views of the numerous non-Buddhist Indian traditions of his time. Unlike previous Madhyamaka texts which were organized around Buddhist categories to be refuted and discussed, the ''Tattvasaṅgraha'' is mainly organized around refuting non-Buddhist views which were becoming increasingly sophisticated and prominent during Śāntarakṣita's era (though space is also saved for certain Buddhist views as well, like
pudgalavada The Pudgalavāda (Sanskrit; English: "Personalism"; Pali: Puggalavāda; zh, t=補特伽羅論者, p=Bǔtèjiāluō Lùnzhě; ) was a Buddhist philosophical view and also refers to a group of Nikaya Buddhist schools (mainly known as Vātsīputr ...
i.e. "personalism"). In this text, Śāntarakṣita explains and then refutes many non-Buddhist views systematically, including Sāṅkhya's primordial matter Nyāya's creator god ( Īśvara) and six different theories on the self ( ātman). He also defends the Buddhist doctrine of momentariness, rejects the
Vaiśeṣika Vaisheshika (IAST: Vaiśeṣika; ; ) is one of the six schools of Hindu philosophy from ancient India. In its early stages, Vaiśeṣika was an independent philosophy with its own metaphysics, epistemology, logic, ethics, and soteriology. Over t ...
ontological categories, discusses philosophy of language and epistemology as well as Jain theories,
Sarvastivada The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (; ;) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (third century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy in the First Millennium CE, 2018, p. 60. It was particular ...
philosophy, and critiques the materialism of the Cārvākas and the scriptural views of
Mīmāṃsā ''Mīmāṁsā'' (Sanskrit: मीमांसा; IAST: Mīmāṃsā) is a Sanskrit word that means "reflection" or "critical investigation" and thus refers to a tradition of contemplation which reflected on the meanings of certain Vedic tex ...
. A
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
version of this work was discovered in 1873 by Dr. G. Bühler in the Jain temple of Pārśva at Jaisalmer. This version contains also the commentary by Śāntarakṣita's pupil Kamalaśīla.


''Madhyamakālaṅkāra''

Śāntarakṣita's synthesis of Madhyamaka, Yogacara, and Dharmakirtian thought was expounded in his '' Madhyamakālaṅkāra'' (''Ornament of the Middle Way''). In this short verse text, Śāntarakṣita critiques some key Hindu and Buddhist views and then details his presentation of the
two truths doctrine The Buddhism, Buddhist doctrine of the two truths (Sanskrit: '','' ) differentiates between two levels of ''satya'' (Sanskrit; Pāli: ''sacca''; meaning "truth" or "reality") in the teaching of Gautama Buddha, Śākyamuni Buddha: the "conventiona ...
. This presents Yogacara Idealism as the superior way of analyzing conventional truth while retaining the Madhyamaka philosophy of emptiness as the ultimate truth. In the last verses of this text, he summarizes his approach as follows:
“Based on the standpoint of mind-only one must know the non-existence of external entities. Based on this standpoint of the non-intrinsic nature of all dharmas one must know that there is no self at all even in that which is mind-only. Therefore, those who hold the reins of logic while riding the carriage of the two systems ādhyamika and Yogācāra attain the stage of a true Mahāyānist.”


Influence

Mipham lists Śāntarakṣita's main Indian students as Kamalaśīla, Haribhadra and Dharmamitra. He also notes that other Indian scholars like masters Jñanapada, and Abhayākaragupta (c. 1100 CE) "also established the view of Prajnaparamita in accordance with this tradition".Shantarakshita & Ju Mipham (2005) p. 86. Furthermore, according to David Seyfort Ruegg, other later Indian scholars such as Vidyākaraprabha (c. 800 CE), Nandasri, Buddhajñāna(pāda), Jitāri, and Kambalapāda also belongs to this Yogācāra-Mādhyamaka tradition.Ruegg, David Seyfort (1981) ''The Literature of the Madhyamaka School of Philosophy in India'', pp. 99-107. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden. Ju Mipham further states that this tradition was continued by Tibetan scholars such as Ngok Lotsawa, Chaba Chökyi Senge and Rongton Choje. Śāntarakṣita's work also influenced numerous later Tibetan figures such as Yeshe De (''ca.'' 8th c.), Sakya Pandita (1182–1251), Tsongkhapa (1357–1419) and Ju Mipham Gyatso (1846–1912). Śāntarakṣita's philosophy remained the main interpretation of Madhyamaka in Tibetan Buddhism from the 8th century until the time of the second dissemination in the eleventh and twelfth centuries when Candrakirti's work began to be translated. Blumenthal notes that already in the time of Patsab (12th century) "the Prasaṅgika-Madhyamaka view began to be widely taught and the privileging of Śāntarakṣita's system began to encounter serious opposition."Blumenthal (2004) p. 27. Je Tsongkhapa's (1357-1419) interpretation of Prasaṅgika Madhyamaka, and his new school, the
Gelug file:DalaiLama0054 tiny.jpg, 240px, 14th Dalai Lama, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya, Bodhgaya (India) The Gelug (, also Geluk; 'virtuous' ...
, raised serious and influential critiques of Śāntarakṣita's position. In no small part due to his efforts, Prasaṅgika Madhyamaka replaced Śāntarakṣita's Madhyamaka as the dominant interpretation of Madhyamaka in Tibetan Buddhism. In the late 19th century, Ju Mipham attempted to promote Yogācāra-Mādhyamaka again as part of the
Rimé movement The Rimé movement (Tibetan Wylie: ''ris med''; approximate pronunciation "reemay") also written in some English sources as Rime, Ri-me, Rimay) is a movement or tendency in Tibetan Buddhism which promotes non-sectarianism and universalism.Sam ...
and as a way to discuss specific critiques of Je Tsongkhapa's widely influential philosophy. The Rimé movement was funded by the secular authorities in Derge,
Kham Kham (; ) is one of the three traditional Tibet, Tibetan regions, the others being Domey also known as Amdo in the northeast, and Ü-Tsang in central Tibet. The official name of this Tibetan region/province is Dotoe (). The original residents of ...
, and began to establish centres of learning encouraging the study of traditions different from the dominant
Gelug file:DalaiLama0054 tiny.jpg, 240px, 14th Dalai Lama, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya, Bodhgaya (India) The Gelug (, also Geluk; 'virtuous' ...
tradition in central Tibet. This Rimé movement revitalised the Sakya,
Kagyu The ''Kagyu'' school, also transliterated as ''Kagyü'', or ''Kagyud'' (), which translates to "Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission" school, is one of the main schools (''chos lugs'') of Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan (or Himalayan) Buddhism. ...
,
Nyingma Nyingma (, ), also referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The Nyingma school was founded by PadmasambhavaClaude Arpi, ''A Glimpse of the History of Tibet'', Dharamsala: Tibet Museum, 2013. ...
and Jonang traditions, which had been by almost supplanted by the Gelug hegemony.Shantarakshita & Ju Mipham (2005) pp.4–5 As part of that movement the 19th century Nyingma scholar Jamgon Ju Mipham Gyatso wrote the first commentary in almost 400 years about Śāntarakṣita's ''Madhyamakālaṅkāra''. According to his student Kunzang Palden, Mipham had been asked by his teacher Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo to write a survey of all the major Mahayana philosophic shastras for use in the Nyingma monastic colleges. Mipham's commentaries now form the backbone of the Nyingma monastic curriculum. The ''Madhyamakālaṅkāra'', which was almost forgotten by the 19th century, is now studied by all Nyingma shedra students.


References


Sources

* Banerjee, Anukul Chandra. ''Acaraya Santaraksita'' in Bulletin of Tibetology, New Series No. 3, p. 1–5. (1982). Gangtok, Sikkim Research Institute of Tibetology and Other Buddhist Studies

* Blumenthal, James. ''The Ornament of the Middle Way: A Study of the Madhyamaka Thought of Shantarakshita''. Snow Lion, (2004). – a study and translation of the primary Gelukpa commentary on Shantarakshita's treatise: Gyal-tsab Je's ''Remembering The Ornament of the Middle Way''. * Blumenthal, James and James Apple, "Śāntarakṣita", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2018 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)

* Doctor, Thomas H. (trans.) Mipham, Jamgon Ju. ''Speech of Delight: Mipham's Commentary of Shantarakshita's Ornament of the Middle Way''. Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications (2004). * Eltschinger, Vincent. "Śāntarakṣita" in ''Brill's Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Volume II: Lives (2019)'' * Ichigō, Masamichi (ed. & tr.). ''Madhyamakālaṁkāra of śāntarakṣita with his own commentary of Vṛtti and with the subcommentary or Pañjikā of Kamalaśīla''. Kyoto: Buneido (1985). * Jha, Ganganath (trans.) ''The Tattvasangraha of Shantaraksita with the Commentary of Kamalashila''. 2 volumes. First Edition : Baroda, (G.O.S. No. Lxxxiii) (1939). Reprint; Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, (1986). * Murthy, K. Krishna. ''Buddhism in Tibet''. Sundeep Prakashan (1989) . * Prasad, Hari Shankar (ed.). ''Santaraksita, His Life and Work.'' (Collected Articles from "''All India Seminar on Acarya Santaraksita''" held on 3–5 August 2001 at Namdroling Monastery, Mysore, Karnataka). New Delhi, Tibet House, (2003). * Phuntsho, Karma. ''Mipham's Dialectics and Debates on Emptiness: To Be, Not to Be or Neither''. London: RoutledgeCurzon (2005) * Śāntarakṣita (author); Jamgon Ju Mipham Gyatso (commentator); Padmakara Translation Group (translators)(2005). ''The Adornment of the Middle Way: Shantarakshita's Madhyamakalankara with commentary by Jamgön Mipham.'' Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Shambhala Publications, Inc. (alk. paper) * Sodargye, Khenpo ( 索达吉堪布) (trans.) . ''中观庄严论释'' (A Chinese translation of the Mipham's Commentary of Ornament of the Middle Way)
online version


Further reading

* Śāntarakṣita (author); Jamgon Ju Mipham Gyatso (commentator); Padmakara Translation Group (translators)(2005). ''The Adornment of the Middle Way: Shantarakshita's Madhyamakalankara with commentary by Jamgön Mipham.'' Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Shambhala Publications, Inc. (alk. paper)


External links


The Tattvasangraha (with commentary)
English translation by Ganganatha Jha, 1937 (includes glossary) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Santaraksita Indian Buddhist monks Indian scholars of Buddhism Madhyamaka Yogacara History of Tibetan Buddhism Buddhist logic Idealists Indian logicians Place of birth unknown Place of death unknown 725 births 8th-century Indian philosophers Monks of Nalanda