The Other Emptiness

Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in Tibet

Edited by Michael R. Sheehy & Klaus-Dieter Mathes

Subjects: Tibetan Buddhism, Buddhism, Asian Religion And Philosophy, Asian Studies
Hardcover : 9781438477572, 400 pages, December 2019
Paperback : 9781438477589, 400 pages, July 2020

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Table of contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: The Philosophical Grounds and Literary History of Zhentong
Klaus-Dieter Mathes and Michael R. Sheehy

1. *Bodhigarbha: Preliminary Notes on an Early Dzokchen Family of Buddha-Nature Concepts
David Higgins

2. On the Inclusion of Chomden Rikpai Raldri in Transmission Lineages of Zhentong
Tsering Wangchuk

3. The Dharma of the Perfect Eon: Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen’s Hermeneutics of Time and the Jonang Doxography of Zhentong Madhyamaka
Michael R. Sheehy

4. Buddha-Nature in Garungpa Lhai Gyaltsen’s Lamp That Illuminates the Expanse of Reality and among Tibetan Intellectuals
Dorje Nyingcha

5. Zhentong Views in the Karma Kagyu Order
Klaus-Dieter Mathes

6. Buddha-Nature: “Natural Awareness Endowed with Buddha Qualities” as Expounded by Zhamar Kacho Wangpo
Martina Draszczyk

7. “There Are No Dharmas Apart from the Dharma-Sphere”: Shakya Chokden’s Interpretation of the Dharma-Sphere
Yaroslav Komarovski

8. Tāranātha’s Twenty-One Differences with Regard to the Profound Meaning: Comparing the Views of the Two Zhentong Masters Dolpopa and Shakya Chokden
Klaus-Dieter Mathes

9. Zhentong Traces in the Nyingma Tradition: Two Texts from Mindroling
Matthew T. Kapstein

10. Zhentong as Yogācāra: Mipam’s Madhyamaka Synthesis
Douglas Duckworth

11. Where Buddhas and Siddhas Meet: Mipam’s Yuganaddhavāda Philosophy
Dorji Wangchuk

12. Along the Middle Path in the Quest for Wisdom: The Great Madhyamaka in Rime Discourses
Marc-Henri Deroche

13. The Zhentong Lion Roars: Dzamtang Khenpo Lodro Drakpa and the Jonang Scholastic Renaissance
Michael R. Sheehy

Contributors
Index

Presents a new vision of the Buddhist history and philosophy of emptiness in Tibet.

Description

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.

Michael R. Sheehy is Director of Scholarship at the Contemplative Sciences Center and Research Assistant Professor in Tibetan Buddhist Studies at the University of Virginia. Klaus-Dieter Mathes is Professor of Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna, Austria. His books include A Direct Path to the Buddha Within: Gö Lotsāwa's Mahāmudrā Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhāga and A Fine Blend of Mahāmudrā and Madhyamaka: Maitrīpa's Collection of Texts on Non-conceptual Realization (Amanasikāra).

Reviews

"This anthology is commendable for providing a comprehensive insight into the rarely known alternative version of the Madhyamaka." — Religious Studies Review

"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." — New Books Network

"The book contains extremely interesting material and makes a valuable contribution to the study of Tibetan Buddhism. It will be appreciated by those interested in the development of one of the important and yet understudied of its traditions, the other emptiness tradition." — Georges B. J. Dreyfus, coeditor of The Svātantrika-Prāsaṅgika Distinction: What Difference Does a Difference Make?