The Two Truths

The Two Truths

Author: Guy Newland

Publisher: Shambhala Publications

Published: 1992-01-01

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 0937938793

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A Namgyal Monastery Institute Textbook & Studies in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism Series The persistent problem of Buddhist philosophy has been to find the middle way—an ontology sturdy enough to support a coherent ethical system that does not betray Buddha's original vision of no-self or emptiness (sunyata). Buddhist perspectives on ethics and emptiness center on the distinction between two truths—the conventional and the ultimate. Newland's work lays out the Madhyamika philosophy of two truths as seen through the eyes of Tibetan scholar-yogis of the Gelugpa order. Linking the classical Buddhist philosophy of Nagarjuna with the living tradition of monastic courtyard debate, the authors explain the two truths without resort to mysterious trans-rational paradoxes. Newland exposes their extraordinary efforts to clear away the sense of contradiction between emptiness and conventional reality and thus to build a Madhyamika system that is both ethically salutary and rationally coherent.


Emptiness Appraised

Emptiness Appraised

Author: David F. Burton

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-10-23

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 1317723228

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Emptiness means that all entities are empty of, or lack, inherent existence - entities have a merely conceptual, constructed existence. Though Nagarjuna advocates the Middle Way, his philosophy of emptiness nevertheless entails nihilism, and his critiques of the Nyaya theory of knowledge are shown to be unconvincing.


The Buddha's Dream of Liberation

The Buddha's Dream of Liberation

Author: James William Coleman

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2017-06-27

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 1614293759

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Explore the three great teachings of the Buddha with this plain-English primer • The First Turning of the Wheel: Insight into the nature of suffering—and the way out of it—from the four noble truths and the eightfold path • The Second Turning of the Wheel: Teachings on emptiness from the Heart Sutra and the Diamond Sutra • The Third Turning of the Wheel: Guidance for practitioners and teachings on awakened Buddha nature In clear language, James William Coleman, professor of sociology at the California Polytechnic State University, guides us through the ancient sutras that preserve the Buddha’s message, illuminating their meaning for today’s world and tying the Buddha’s wisdom together for us. The book concludes with chapters from two great teachers, Reb Anderson from the Zen tradition and Lama Palden from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, on how to use meditation to bring the Buddha’s wisdom into our daily lives. Table of Contents: Introduction: The Wheel of Dharma Part I: The Three Turnings of the Wheel 1. The First Turning of the Wheel: The Four Noble Truths and the Pali Canon 2. The Second Turning of the Wheel: Emptiness and the Perfection of Wisdom 3. The Third Turning of the Wheel: Untying the Knot of the Sutra of the Explanation of the Profound Secrets Part II: Turning the Wheel in the Twenty-First Century 4. Practicing the Dream 5. Tasting the Truth of the Buddha’s Words: A Zen Perspective by Reb Anderson Roshi 6. Envisioning Tara: A Vajrayana Perspective by Lama Palden Drolma 7. The Buddha’s Dream


How Do Madhyamikas Think?

How Do Madhyamikas Think?

Author: Tom J. F. Tillemans

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2016-04-12

Total Pages: 291

ISBN-13: 1614292515

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Intro -- Title -- Contents -- Publisher's Acknowledgment -- Introduction -- Madhyamaka's Promise as Philosophy -- 1. Trying to Be Fair -- 2. How Far Can a Mādhyamika Reform Customary Truth? Dismal Relativism, Fictionalism, Easy-Easy Truth, and the Alternatives -- Logic and Semantics -- 3. How Do Mādhyamikas Think? Notes on Jay Garfield, Graham Priest, and Paraconsistency -- 4. "How Do Mādhyamikas Think?" Revisited -- 5. Prasaṅga and Proof by Contradiction in Bhāviveka, Candrakīrti, and Dharmakīrti -- 6. Apoha Semantics: What Did Bhāviveka Have to Do with It? -- 7. What Happened to the Third and Fourth Lemmas in the Tibetan Madhyamaka? -- Ethics and the Spiritual Path -- 8. Madhyamaka Buddhist Ethics -- 9. Reason, Irrationality, and Akrasia (Weakness of the Will) in Buddhism: Reflections upon Śāntideva's Arguments with Himself -- 10. Yogic Perception, Meditation, and Enlightenment: The Epistemological Issues in a Key Debate between Madhyamaka and Chan -- Madhyamaka in Contemporary Debates -- 11. On Minds, Dharmakīrti, and Madhyamaka -- 12. Serious, Lightweight, or Neither: Should Madhyamaka Go to Canberra? -- Notes on the Articles -- Abbreviations -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author -- Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism Titles Previously Published -- About Wisdom Publications -- Copyright


Freedom from Extremes

Freedom from Extremes

Author: Jose Ignacio Cabezon

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2013-02-08

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 0861718577

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What is emptiness? This question at the heart of Buddhist philosophy has preoccupied the greatest minds of India and Tibet for two millennia, producing hundreds of volumes. Distinguishing the Views, by the fifteenth-century Sakya scholar Gorampa Sonam Senge, is one of the most important of those works, esteemed for its conciseness, lucidity, and profundity. Freedom from Extremes presents Gorampa's elegant philosophical case on the matter of emptiness here in a masterful translation by Geshe Lobsang Dargyay. Gorampa's text is polemical, and his targets are two of Tibet's greatest thinkers: Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelug school, and Dolpopa, a founding figure of the Jonang school. Distinguishing the Views argues that Dolpopa has fallen into an eternalistic extreme, whereas Tsongkhapa has fallen into nihilism, and that only the mainstream Sakya view - what Gorampa calls "freedom from extremes" - represents the true middle way, the correct view of emptiness. Suppressed for years in Tibet, this seminal work today is widely regarded and is studied in some of Tibet's greatest academic institutions. Gorampa's treatise has been translated and annotated here by two leading scholars of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, and a critical edition of the Tibetan text on facing pages gives students and scholars direct access to Gorampa's own words. Jose Cabezon's extended introduction provides a thorough overview of Tibetan polemical literature and contextualizes the life and work of Gorampa both historically and intellectually. Freedom from Extremes will be indispensable for serious students of Madhyamaka thought.


The Critique of Svatantra Reasoning by Candrakīrti and Tsong-kha-pa

The Critique of Svatantra Reasoning by Candrakīrti and Tsong-kha-pa

Author: Kodo Yotsuya

Publisher: Franz Steiner Verlag

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 9783515070423

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The status of reasoning and formally stated philosophical proofs is a fundamental problem in the Madhyamaka philosophy of India and Tibet, one which became a decisive criteria dividing the two major later sub-schools of Nagarjuna's tradition. The present work investigates the critique of the so-called "autonomous proofs" (svatantra) by two major exponents of the Prasangika sub-school of the Madhyamaka in India and Tibet, Candrakirti (ca. 600-665) and Tsong kha pa (1357-1419). Candrakirti initially developed his critique in the Prasannapada, his highly influential commentary on Nagarjuna's basic treatise. In Tibet, Tsong kha pa was one of the most important interpreters of Candrakirti, and he substantiated his own Madhyamaka views in an original but in many ways convincing manner. His treatment of this critique is an important and highly characteristic example of his approach and work. Inhalt: Tsong kha pa's Unique Understanding of Selflessness - Tsong kha pa's Method of Demonstrating Selflessness - The Meaning of the Term Svatantra - Candrakirti's Critique of Svatantra-reasoning in the Prasannapada - Tsong kha pa's Critique of Svatantra-reasoning in the Lam rim chen mo and the Legs bshad snying po - Table of the Discussions of Svatantra-reasoning "What makes this study especially valuable is above all the author's critical analysis of the contents of each discussion by Candrakirti and Tsong kha pa. [�] Yotsuya really deserves the gratitude of scholars for the publication of this elaborate work� Indo-Iranian Journal.


The Two Truths in Indian Buddhism

The Two Truths in Indian Buddhism

Author: Sonam Thakchoe

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2023-04-18

Total Pages: 331

ISBN-13: 1614297614

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An insightful and illuminating survey of key insights into one of the most foundational and profound topics in Buddhist thought. In this clear and exemplary approach to one of the core philosophical subjects of the Buddhist tradition, Sonam Thakchoe guides readers through the range of Indian Buddhist philosophical schools and how each approaches the two truths: ultimate truth and conventional truth. In this presentation of philosophical systems, the detailed argumentations and analyses of each school’s approach to the two truths are presented to weave together the unique contributions each school brings to supporting and strengthening a Buddhist practitioner’s understanding of reality. The insights of the great scholars of Indian Buddhist history—such as Vasubandhu, Bhavaviveka, Kamalashila, Dharmakirti, Nagarjuna, and Chandrakirti—are illuminated in this volume, with profound implications for the practice and views of modern practitioners and scholars. The Vaibhashika, Sautrantika, Yogachara, and Madhyamaka schools provide a framework for a continuum of philosophical debate that is far more interrelated, and internally complex, than one may presume. Yet we see how the schools build upon the findings of one another, leading from a belief in the realism of external phenomena to the relinquishment of any commitment to realism of either external or internal realities. This fascinating movement through philosophical approaches leads us to see how the conventional and ultimate—dependent arising and emptiness—are twin aspects of a single reality.


The Sound of Two Hands Clapping

The Sound of Two Hands Clapping

Author: Georges Dreyfus

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2003-01-28

Total Pages: 476

ISBN-13: 9780520928244

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A unique insider's account of day-to-day life inside a Tibetan monastery, The Sound of Two Hands Clapping reveals to Western audiences the fascinating details of monastic education. Georges B. J. Dreyfus, the first Westerner to complete the famous Ge-luk curriculum and achieve the distinguished title of geshe, weaves together eloquent and moving autobiographical reflections with a historical overview of Tibetan Buddhism and insights into its teachings.


American Buddhism

American Buddhism

Author: Christopher Queen

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-10-18

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 1136830332

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This is the first scholarly treatment of the emergence of American Buddhist Studies as a significant research field. Until now, few investigators have turned their attention to the interpretive challenge posed by the presence of all the traditional lineages of Asian Buddhism in a consciously multicultural society. Nor have scholars considered the place of their own contributions as writers, teachers, and practising Buddhists in this unfolding saga. In thirteen chapters and a critical introduction to the field, the book treats issues such as Asian American Buddhist identity, the new Buddhism, Buddhism and American culture, and the scholar's place in American Buddhist Studies. The volume offers complete lists of dissertations and theses on American Buddhism and North American dissertations and theses on topics related to Buddhism since 1892.