#Gorampa

[radical-revolution]

~ Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

(...) This verse says that from the absolute point of view, the Buddha gave only one teaching. In order to completely clean all pollution, you need to understand the absence of essence - and that is the only way.

Since all phenomena have one essence - the absence of its own essence, then it is necessary to come to only one consciousness - the awareness of the absence of your own essence. Therefore, all the teachings of the Buddha lead to one.

There is an important statement about this: "Methods like love and compassion, meditation, etc., in fact, do not contradict ignorance." That's why they can't completely eliminate ignorance. But the understanding of the absence of its own essence is absolute, in all dimensions, a complete opposition to ignorance."

Therefore, understanding the absence of self essence is the only way.

Without it, love and compassion will only work to a certain limit, they cannot completely contradict themselves to ignorance.

As Chandrakirti said:

"Those who remain ignorant, and engage in evil activities, creating bad karma, go to hell.

Those who remain ignorant, do good deeds and create good karma are going to heaven.

Those who are wise will go beyond the limits of karma and achieve liberation."

*** "Introduction to the Middle Path."

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche's lectures on the Madhyamakavatar Chandrakirti treaty based on Gorampa's commentary.

***

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

GORAMPA ~ TYPES OF EMPTINESS There are two kinds of emptiness found in the treatises of Nagarjuna: 

(1) the emptiness that is rationally analyzed, and 

(2) the emptiness that is to be intuited by yogis themselves. The first of these is further subdivided into a) the emptiness of the self of persons and b) the emptiness of the self of phenomena. 1a) Let us consider the first of these latter two forms of emptiness. Worldly beings and non-Buddhists have the notion of a person, a self, a being, and so forth, which they impute, at times onto the aggregates, and at other times onto the elements or onto the sense spheres. The emptiness of the self of the person is the negation of a self that is by nature the agent that utilizes or possesses objects, such as the aggregates, so that, in the wake of that negation, the aggregates, etc., come to be established as mere phenomena. As Nagarjuna's Lokatitastava states: You [the Buddha] yourself accept That there is no sentient being That is different from the mere aggregates. 1b) The second type of emptiness, the emptiness of phenomena, is the negation of all distinctions like permanent/impermanent, existence/nonexistence, arising/nonarising, and so forth, that are imputed by philosophers, both Buddhist and non-Buddhist, in regard to the internal and external elements and onto the sense spheres, so that in the wake of that negation they are demonstrated as nothing but mere illusions that arise interdependently. That same text states: You, oh Wise One, have taught this To [other] wise ones: That even the aggregates are like illusions, mirages, Fairy cities, and dreams. Because these are forms of emptiness that are arrived at through an analysis based on rational study and contemplation, they are called “emptinesses in name only”. 2) The second principal form of emptiness is labeled “emptiness as the ultimate truth that is realized ineffably by Aryans’ own intuitive gnosis.” This cannot be taught linguistically—that is, in terms of any of the proliferative extremes like existence/nonexistence, eternalism/nihilism, empty/nonempty, and so forth; it is beyond being the referent of any term. Such a reality—that is, such an emptiness—is the essence of these interdependent appearances, which are like an illusion. Nothing whatsoever exists in any other way. The Mahayana does not in the least accept an emptiness different from the three just mentioned—one that negates the conventional as its object-to-be-negated and that then posits the empty basis as an ultimately existent thing—for Nagarjuna's Prajñamula [madhyamaka karikas] states: If there were some truly existing thing, Then emptiness might exist; But because nothing whatsoever truly exists, How can emptiness exist? This is stating that because the basis of designation does not exist, its emptiness also does not exist. Again, in that same text it reads: The Victors have said that emptiness Is the relinquishing of all views. For whomever emptiness is a view, That one has achieved nothing. ~ Adapted from "Freedom from Extremes," translated by José Ignacio Cabezon

[André A. Pais]

[mahayanapilgrim]

The Sakya school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug. It is one of the Red Hat Orders along with the Nyingma and Kagyu. The name Sakya ("pale earth") derives from the unique grey landscape of the Ponpori Hills in southern Tibet near Shigatse, where Sakya Monastery, the first monastery of this tradition, and the seat of the Sakya School was built by Khon Konchog Gyalpo (1034-1102) in 1073.

The Sakya tradition developed during the second period of translation of Buddhist scripture from Sanskrit into

Tibetan in the late 11th century. It was founded by Drogmi, a famous scholar and translator who had studied at the Vikramashila directly under Naropa, Ratnakarasânti, Vagishvakirti and other great panditas from India for twelve years.

Khon Konchog Gyalpo became Drogmi's disciple on the advice of his elder brother.

The tradition was established by the "Five Venerable Supreme Masters" starting with the grandson of Khonchog Gyalpo, Sachen Kunga Nyingpo, who became known as Sachen, or "Great Sakyapa" Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092-1158)

Sonam Tsemo (1142-1182)

Jetsun Dragpa Gyaltsen (1147-1216)

Sakya Pandita (1182-1251)

Drogön Chögyal Phagpa (1235-1280)

Buton Rinchen Drub (1290-1364) was an important scholar and writer and one of Tibet's most celebrated historians. Other notable scholars of the Sakya tradition are the so-called "Six Ornaments of Tibet:"

Yaktuk Sangyey Pal

Rongton (1367-1449)

Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo

Zongpa Kunga Namgyel

Gorampa (1429-1489)

Sakya Choken (1428-1507)

The leadership of the Sakya School is passed down through a hereditary system between the male members of the Sakya branch of the Khon family.

---

To cause yourself and your life to be intensely filled with happiness, do everything you can to give happiness to others.

Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can.

As long as ever you can.

May you be well and happy my friends.

I am grateful for your interest in Dharma and following my blog.

Any mistakes are solely my own and not the fault with the Dharma or masters quoted here.

[astranemus]

While one is still an ordinary being, one eliminates each of the proliferations of the four extremes [of grasping at existence/non-existence/both/neither] one at a time, and then meditates [on each of these individually]. This leads to the emergence of the Mahāyāna path of seeing. At that time, the proliferations of all four extremes are eliminated simultaneously in such a way that the reality that is to be realized and the mind that realizes it do not appear as two distinct things. The object that manifests itself without proliferations and indivisibly from that mind is given the name “the ultimate truth”; but at that time, there is no apprehension whatsoever of the fact, “This is the ultimate truth.” It is intending this that the stainless word [of the Buddha] and its commentarial tradition repeatedly urge us to “see things through the method of not seeing, and perceive things through the method of nonperception.”

Gorampa Sonam Senge, in Freedom from Extremes: Gorampa's "Distinguishing the Views" and the Polemics of Emptiness by Jose Ignacio Cabezon & Lobsang Dargyay.

[eelhound]

"The extensive and vast mind possessed of compassion for all living beings, like love starting from the present mother and extending to the limits of space, must be cultivated to such a degree that it compares to that of a tearful person who sees or remembers that his or her only child has fallen into a pit of fire."

- Gorampa Sonam Senge, from The General Meaning of Madhyamaka

[budaenlayerba]

Hoy 25/02/2019 se recuerden dos grandes maestros de la tradición Sakya.

El primero fue Gorampa Sonam Sengge (n.1429 en Gowo m.1489 en camino a Tanak), el principal de los exégetas de la tradición. Sus obras sobre el trabajo de Sapan fueron tan, pero tan magistrales que el V Dalai Lama directamente prohibió su publicación en el Tíbet, al no poder rebatirlas. Por suerte, ahora todos los filósofos de todas las escuelas pueden acceder a ellas, pero si hay alguien que sea aquella cosa tan rara, el Madhyamaka perfecto, es Gorampa. #TeamGorampa4Life

El segundo fue Jamyang Khytense Wangpo (n.1820 en Dilgo, m.1892 en Dzongsar) fue uno de los fundadores del movimiento Rimé. De él surgen grandes maestros como Ju Mipham y mediante su colaboración con Jamgon Kongtrul, múltiples sistemas de meditación se preservaron de forma no sectaria.

¡Que su actividad siga por siempre!

[ngakpakonchokdorjetsondonmystic]

The ShAkya Lineage

THE SAKYA LINEAGE Sakya literally means “pale earth” and refers to an auspicious plot of land in south-western Tibet that in 1073 became home to an entire tradition of Buddhism. Guided by an unbroken family lineage of revered spiritual leaders, the Sakya tradition integrates a rich system of study and practice. The advent of Buddhism in Tibet began as early as the 5th century and by the 7th century it was the deemed the state religion. By 827, the first ordination of monks at the newly established Samye monastery in Yarlung valley by the pioneering scholar Shantarakshita took place and among the first seven monks to ordain was Nagendrarakshita, a member of the Khön family. Being distinguished Buddhist scholars and practitioners as well as direct disciples of Padmasambhava, Shantarakshita and Trisong Detsen, the Khön family members emerged as pillars of the early dissemination of Buddhism in Tibet. By the eleventh century, members of the Khön family were instrumental in the renaissance of Buddhism in Tibet, establishing their base at Sakya, a place marked by a patch of pale earth as foretold by the Padmasambhava and Atisha, and the namesake for the new tradition they founded. Maintaining several important practices entrusted to the Khön family by Padmasambhava, a new emphasis was given on the later transmission of Buddhist teachings to Tibet in Sakya, particularly the works of four great translators. Of these, the Lam-dre teaching (the Path that Includes the Result) that originated in India with the Mahasiddha Virupa and was first taught compressively in Tibet by Drogmi Lotsawa became the most important. Of the Khön family members that established the Sakya tradition, Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092-158) is regarded as the first of the founding masters. A peerless master of the sutra and tantra teachings, he received the renowned mind-training teaching known as “Parting from the Four Forms of Clinging” from the Bodhisattva Manjushri at the age of twelve. He later received the teachings of the four great translators, such as the vast kriya tantra teachings from Bari Lotsawa Rinchen Dragpa (1040-1111), the Cakrasamvara and Naropa’s Vajrayogini teachings from Mal Lotsawa Lodro Dragpa, and the teachings of Lochen Rinchen Zangpo and others. Two of Sachen Kunga Nyingpo’s four sons and spiritual heirs, Lobpön Sönam Tsemo (1142-82) and Jetsun Dragpa Gyaltsen (1147-1216) are revered as the second and third founders respectively, having composed celebrated works that became vital in the Sakya tradition. The fourth founder, Sachen Kunga Nyingpo’s grandson Kunga Gyaltsen Pal Zangpo (1182-1251), took full ordination as a monk from the Kashmiri scholar Shakyashribhadra and became the first Tibetan to earn the rank of a Mahapandita for his expertise. He thus became famed as Sakya Pandita, of the most important scholars in the development of Tibetan Buddhism. Through Sakya Pandita, a vigorous school of logic and reasoning took root in Tibet and a number of Indian sciences were introduced. His uncompromising emphasis on discriminative intelligence through rigorous intellectual standards was seminal and established the standard criteria for unbiased critical analysis and the development of knowledge in the whole Tibetan tradition of Buddhist education. Of his many brilliant works, “The Differentiation of the Three Vows”, “Illuminating the Muni’s Intent,” “The Treasury of Elegant Sayings” and “The Treasury of Reasoning and Valid Cognition” are the most well-known, the last of these being the only text of Tibetan origin to have been translated into Sanskrit, his reputation spreading like lightning throughout India as a result. In 1253, the Mongolian emperor of China Kublai Khan (1215-1294) invited Sakya Pandita’s nephew Chögyal Phagpa Lodrö Gyaltsen (1235-1280) to his court. The great Khan not only took the fifth founder of Sakya as his Imperial Preceptor, he gave political rule of the thirteen myriarchies that made up Tibet to him. Although he spent most of his life in China, where he bestowed many teachings and ordinations to people of diverse backgrounds, he returned to Tibet in 1265 and appointed a governor and thirteen ministers to centralise the Tibetan government the model of a spiritual leader overseeing a centralised government with the policy of religious pluralism that lasted until 1949, although it only remained in Sakya for just over a century. During Chögyal Phagpa’s lifetime, the great temple (Lhakhang Chenmo) was built in Sakya and what became the greatest library in Tibet. By the time of Lama Dampa Sönam Gyaltsen (1312-1375), political rule shifted from Sakya but Lama Dampa consolidated all the teachings of the five founders and Sakya’s spiritual influence continued to flourish, most of the greatest masters of his day in all traditions receiving teachings from him. After Lama Dampa, “Six Ornaments” are revered in the development of the Sakya tradition: Yagtön Sangye Pal (1348-1414) and Rongtön Sheja Kunrig (1367-1449), expert in the sutras; Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo (1382-1456) and Dorje Denpa Kunga Namgyal (1432-1496), expert in the tantras; and Kunkhyen Gorampa Sönam Sengge (1429-1489) and Shakya Chogden (1428-1507), expert in both. It is also after Lama Dampa that the Ngorpa and Dzongpa sub-schools of Sakya and later the Tsarpa emerged, with major Sakya monasteries built in the Amdo, Kham, and Ü-Tsang regions of Tibet as well as other Himalayan areas and Mongolia. Although the Khön family is continued by the male progeny, the female members of the family, known as Jetsunmas, are also highly respected teachers in the tradition, many of whom have furthered the Sakya teachings. During the time of the 22nd Sakya Throne Holder, Salo Jampai Dorje (1485-1533), who was a prolific author of Sakya teachings, political turmoil threatened the future of Sakya. However, due to the work initiated by him and carried out by his magnanimous nephew, the 23rd Sakya Throne Holder Ngagchang Kunga Rinchen (1517-1584), Sakya underwent a revival and its legacy was fully secured. After another period of unrest in the 17th century, the seat of power in Tibet shifted from Tsang to Lhasa and in forming a solid rapport with the new administration, the 27th Sakya Throne Holder, Jamgon Ameshab Kunga Sonam (1597-1659), who was an extraordinary polymath, peace envoy and spiritual master, aided Sakya’s continued development. Later, the 31st Sakya Throne Holder Sachen Kunga Lodrö (1729-1783) made tremendous efforts to preserve all the vast teachings of the tradition. His grandsons founded the two surviving branches of the Khön family in the 18th century named after their respective residences: the Dolma Phodrang and the Phuntsok Phodrang. Leadership of Sakya and its tradition has alternated between the two Phodrangs in more recent history. Since 1959, the families of both Phodrangs have lived outside of Tibet. H.H. the 41st Sakya Trichen (b. 1945) re-established the Dolma Phodrang as well as many monasteries and nunneries in India, ensuring the continuation of the Sakya tradition and spreading its teachings across the globe. The Phuntsok Phodrang, headed by the late Jigdal Dagchen Dorje Chang (1929-2016), relocated to Seattle in the USA but later established a base in New Delhi with the Sakya Heritage Society.

Source: Avikrita.org

[theputneyfinancialgroup]

Awaken - The Asian Art Museums Newest Gallery Promotes Enlightenment

A Northern California-based financial firm, The Putney Financial Group was established over two decades ago with the mission of helping clients set and achieve realistic financial goals. Dedicated to helping its community, The Putney Financial Group regularly contributes to high school and college internship programs at such institutions as the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. An engaging and inspirational institution, the Asian Art Museum promotes new ways of thinking by connecting historical and contemporary Asian culture to the San Francisco Bay Area’s diverse communities. To this end, the museum hosts a range of world-class exhibits, including its recent addition of Awaken: A Tibetan Buddhist Journey Toward Enlightenment. This exhibit is scheduled to run until May 3, 2020, and combines Buddhist artwork from both the Asian Art Museum and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. These two institutions have some of the examples of Himalayan art in the US. During its run, Awaken will feature textiles, sculptures, book art, and paintings created between the years 800 and 2016. Included is a 17th-century painting of the Ngor monastery’s sixth abbot, Gorampa Sonam Sengge, along with numerous examples of Vajrayana Buddhism, a specific form of Buddhism that emphasizes the act of seeing, which arose in Tibet during the 8th century. All this artwork is laid out as sections of a large mandala. Each section has its own guardian depicted and the entire exhibit is tied together by the deity shown in the center.

[ani-tsultrim-wangmo]

If one does not initially refute the truth of an object that is apprehended as truly existent, one will be unable to refute the later grasping at extremes. Because of that, it is necessary to definitively set down the truthlessness of all things, both internal and external, by means of logical reasonings such as neither-one-nor-many.

~ Gorampa

若人從最初不駁斥一個被理解為真實存在的物質，人們將無法反駁往後於極端情況下的執著。正因為如此，有必要通過邏輯推理，如"既不一亦不多"，明確闡明所有事物，無論是內或外，都是不真實的。

~ 果仁巴大師

[vajranam]

The ShAkya Lineage

THE SAKYA LINEAGE Sakya literally means “pale earth” and refers to an auspicious plot of land in south-western Tibet that in 1073 became home to an entire tradition of Buddhism. Guided by an unbroken family lineage of revered spiritual leaders, the Sakya tradition integrates a rich system of study and practice. The advent of Buddhism in Tibet began as early as the 5th century and by the 7th century it was the deemed the state religion. By 827, the first ordination of monks at the newly established Samye monastery in Yarlung valley by the pioneering scholar Shantarakshita took place and among the first seven monks to ordain was Nagendrarakshita, a member of the Khön family. Being distinguished Buddhist scholars and practitioners as well as direct disciples of Padmasambhava, Shantarakshita and Trisong Detsen, the Khön family members emerged as pillars of the early dissemination of Buddhism in Tibet. By the eleventh century, members of the Khön family were instrumental in the renaissance of Buddhism in Tibet, establishing their base at Sakya, a place marked by a patch of pale earth as foretold by the Padmasambhava and Atisha, and the namesake for the new tradition they founded. Maintaining several important practices entrusted to the Khön family by Padmasambhava, a new emphasis was given on the later transmission of Buddhist teachings to Tibet in Sakya, particularly the works of four great translators. Of these, the Lam-dre teaching (the Path that Includes the Result) that originated in India with the Mahasiddha Virupa and was first taught compressively in Tibet by Drogmi Lotsawa became the most important. Of the Khön family members that established the Sakya tradition, Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092-158) is regarded as the first of the founding masters. A peerless master of the sutra and tantra teachings, he received the renowned mind-training teaching known as “Parting from the Four Forms of Clinging” from the Bodhisattva Manjushri at the age of twelve. He later received the teachings of the four great translators, such as the vast kriya tantra teachings from Bari Lotsawa Rinchen Dragpa (1040-1111), the Cakrasamvara and Naropa’s Vajrayogini teachings from Mal Lotsawa Lodro Dragpa, and the teachings of Lochen Rinchen Zangpo and others. Two of Sachen Kunga Nyingpo’s four sons and spiritual heirs, Lobpön Sönam Tsemo (1142-82) and Jetsun Dragpa Gyaltsen (1147-1216) are revered as the second and third founders respectively, having composed celebrated works that became vital in the Sakya tradition. The fourth founder, Sachen Kunga Nyingpo’s grandson Kunga Gyaltsen Pal Zangpo (1182-1251), took full ordination as a monk from the Kashmiri scholar Shakyashribhadra and became the first Tibetan to earn the rank of a Mahapandita for his expertise. He thus became famed as Sakya Pandita, of the most important scholars in the development of Tibetan Buddhism. Through Sakya Pandita, a vigorous school of logic and reasoning took root in Tibet and a number of Indian sciences were introduced. His uncompromising emphasis on discriminative intelligence through rigorous intellectual standards was seminal and established the standard criteria for unbiased critical analysis and the development of knowledge in the whole Tibetan tradition of Buddhist education. Of his many brilliant works, “The Differentiation of the Three Vows”, “Illuminating the Muni’s Intent,” “The Treasury of Elegant Sayings” and “The Treasury of Reasoning and Valid Cognition” are the most well-known, the last of these being the only text of Tibetan origin to have been translated into Sanskrit, his reputation spreading like lightning throughout India as a result. In 1253, the Mongolian emperor of China Kublai Khan (1215-1294) invited Sakya Pandita’s nephew Chögyal Phagpa Lodrö Gyaltsen (1235-1280) to his court. The great Khan not only took the fifth founder of Sakya as his Imperial Preceptor, he gave political rule of the thirteen myriarchies that made up Tibet to him. Although he spent most of his life in China, where he bestowed many teachings and ordinations to people of diverse backgrounds, he returned to Tibet in 1265 and appointed a governor and thirteen ministers to centralise the Tibetan government the model of a spiritual leader overseeing a centralised government with the policy of religious pluralism that lasted until 1949, although it only remained in Sakya for just over a century. During Chögyal Phagpa’s lifetime, the great temple (Lhakhang Chenmo) was built in Sakya and what became the greatest library in Tibet. By the time of Lama Dampa Sönam Gyaltsen (1312-1375), political rule shifted from Sakya but Lama Dampa consolidated all the teachings of the five founders and Sakya’s spiritual influence continued to flourish, most of the greatest masters of his day in all traditions receiving teachings from him. After Lama Dampa, “Six Ornaments” are revered in the development of the Sakya tradition: Yagtön Sangye Pal (1348-1414) and Rongtön Sheja Kunrig (1367-1449), expert in the sutras; Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo (1382-1456) and Dorje Denpa Kunga Namgyal (1432-1496), expert in the tantras; and Kunkhyen Gorampa Sönam Sengge (1429-1489) and Shakya Chogden (1428-1507), expert in both. It is also after Lama Dampa that the Ngorpa and Dzongpa sub-schools of Sakya and later the Tsarpa emerged, with major Sakya monasteries built in the Amdo, Kham, and Ü-Tsang regions of Tibet as well as other Himalayan areas and Mongolia. Although the Khön family is continued by the male progeny, the female members of the family, known as Jetsunmas, are also highly respected teachers in the tradition, many of whom have furthered the Sakya teachings. During the time of the 22nd Sakya Throne Holder, Salo Jampai Dorje (1485-1533), who was a prolific author of Sakya teachings, political turmoil threatened the future of Sakya. However, due to the work initiated by him and carried out by his magnanimous nephew, the 23rd Sakya Throne Holder Ngagchang Kunga Rinchen (1517-1584), Sakya underwent a revival and its legacy was fully secured. After another period of unrest in the 17th century, the seat of power in Tibet shifted from Tsang to Lhasa and in forming a solid rapport with the new administration, the 27th Sakya Throne Holder, Jamgon Ameshab Kunga Sonam (1597-1659), who was an extraordinary polymath, peace envoy and spiritual master, aided Sakya’s continued development. Later, the 31st Sakya Throne Holder Sachen Kunga Lodrö (1729-1783) made tremendous efforts to preserve all the vast teachings of the tradition. His grandsons founded the two surviving branches of the Khön family in the 18th century named after their respective residences: the Dolma Phodrang and the Phuntsok Phodrang. Leadership of Sakya and its tradition has alternated between the two Phodrangs in more recent history. Since 1959, the families of both Phodrangs have lived outside of Tibet. H.H. the 41st Sakya Trichen (b. 1945) re-established the Dolma Phodrang as well as many monasteries and nunneries in India, ensuring the continuation of the Sakya tradition and spreading its teachings across the globe. The Phuntsok Phodrang, headed by the late Jigdal Dagchen Dorje Chang (1929-2016), relocated to Seattle in the USA but later established a base in New Delhi with the Sakya Heritage Society.

Source: Avikrita.org

[garywonghc]

The meaning of Madhyamaka is freedom from all extremes such as existence and non-existence, and “is” and “is not.” One must therefore abandon all grasping at extremes and all grasping at signs. If one does not initially refute the truth of an object that is apprehended as truly existent, one will be unable to refute the later grasping at extremes. Because of that, it is necessary to definitively set down the truthlessness of all things, both internal and external, by means of logical reasonings such as neither-one-nor-many. Since this is the gross object of negation, as well as the main cause of samsara, the texts give extensive reasonings for negating the truth of conceived objects. Having negated truth, however, one grasps at the very emptiness of truth, just as, for example, one riding a horse may not fall off on the right side, but falls off on the left side. In the same way, if one has not gone beyond falling into the extreme of nihilism, that view must also be refuted. Therefore, since grasping at things as both empty and non-empty, and neither empty nor non-empty must also be refuted, no object of grasping whatsoever is found in the four extremes. This non-grasping is called “the realisation of the Madhyamaka view.” But, if one grasps to any one extreme and says, “this is the Madhyamaka view,” then, since one has not gone beyond grasping at extremes, conceiving things as empty, non-empty, and so on, this is not the Madhyamaka view. -- Gorampa

[english-tibetan-dictionary]

gorampa

go rams pa bsod nams seng ge - Gorampa S?nam Senge, Sakya master: 1429-1489 [RY]

chos rje go ram pa - Dharma Lord Gorampa [RY]

[budaenlayerba]

cual te parece que son buenas respuestas del budismo a la critica que hace shankara y el advaita al concepto de anatta y el partikasamutpada budista?

¡Hola!

Supongo que estás mencionando el Brahma Sutra Bhasya, dónde dice que considera que debe haber una presencia o un testigo en los tres tiempos y eso es el Atman. Según Sankara, eso es necesario para que haya una continuidad de personalidad.

A mí personalmente me parece que en eso, Sankara (que es en general muy hábil) falla en entender la idea de movimiento. Un fotograma de una película es una imagen quieta, pero suficientemente rápido dan la ilusión de moverse. Esto mismo lo trata el Abhidharma y Vasubhandu, en su Kosa, cita un ejemplo similar.

El problema básico que se presenta en la crítica de Sankara es su interpretación de la conciencia-que-surge pravrttivijñana del Alaya como no válida, dado que niega la existencia de algo puramente externo como base (que Sankara necesita para afirmar el Brahman como sustentador del atman) por lo que para esto hace algo raro: critica la postura de sahopalambha, primero con parte de la teoría Sakara del Vijñanavada y de repente, a la mitad del argumento, termina usando conceptos de otra teoría, la Nirakara. Esto hace que encuentre contradicciones...porque está usando dos conceptos totalmente diferentes.

Yo no sé si es algo que sucedió porque a) Sankara no era especialista y no comprendió que saltaba de una escuela a otra, b) sabía que lo hacía pero no le importaba porque quedaba bien para su argumento o c) en realidad, hizo otra argumentación y las versiones que nos llegaron eran estas (recordemos que muchos debates eran orales). Pero en general las respuestas del budismo son variaciones de "Sankara tuvo un error crítico en asumir la postura de que el Atman era necesario porque comenzo a priori con él" (Taranatha), "Sankara quiso confundir los términos de un debate porque no tenía otra forma de solucionarlo" (Gorampa y en general, los Madhyamakas de Tibet) o "Sankara ignoró las críticas Svatántrikas porque no tenía respuestas a ellas y por eso utilizó una secta menor de la vijñanavada para rebatir una parte y decir que había derrotado al budismo" (la postura Gelug).

De cualquier forma, los reinos budistas y el imperio Phala fueron masacrados por los hindúes y musulmanes. Es muy difícil sostener una discusión filosófica compleja cuánto te están acuchillando, con lo cuál para los hindúes hoy Sankara ganó y el Buda es un avatar de Vishnu. Les budistas se vengan llamando a Sankara un budista en el closet y asumo que nadie nunca vá a intentar solucionar el entuerto porque significaría que deberían dejar de tirarse piedras de lejos

(o reconocer al Navayana)

¡Espero que sirva!

[ani-tsultrim-wangmo]

The meaning of Madhyamaka is freedom from all extremes such as existence and non-existence, and "is" and "is not." One must therefore abandon all grasping at extremes and all grasping at signs.

~ Gorampa

中觀的含義是從存在與不存在，及是與非等所有極端中解脫出。因此，人們必須放棄所有對極端的執取，及執著於現象。

~ 果仁巴大師

[ani-tsultrim-wangmo]

All phenomena are mind’s experiential sphere. Do not seek a creator (of these) in the four elements, chance, God and the like, but be joyful in the nature of mind itself.

~ Gorampa

一切现象都是相续上的经验领域。切勿尝试于此四大种中，寻找一个像神之类的造物者，而是感受心性的欣悦。

~ 果仁巴大师

[ani-tsultrim-wangmo]

Attachment to self-purpose is like cherishing the son of an enemy; though superficial joy may appear to be like joy, eventually it will certainly inflict harm. Even the superficial happiness from attachment to self-purpose certainly will eventually lead to a bad rebirth.

~ Gorampa

珍惜自我等于珍惜敌人的儿子；虽然表面上的快乐看似快乐，但最终它肯定会造成伤害。即使是珍惜自我为中心而生起表面上的幸福，最终肯定会导致一个不好的投生。

~ 果仁巴大师