Bcom ldan rig pa'i ral gri

Bcom ldan rig pa'i ral gri on the DRL

Classical Tibetan Authors

བཅོམ་ལྡན་རིག་པའི་རལ་གྲི་

Wylie	bcom ldan rig pa'i ral gri
English Phonetics	Chomden Rikpai Raldri
Sort Name	Chomden Rikpai Raldri

Other names

• བཅོམ་ལྡན་རལ་གྲི་
• བཅོམ་ལྡན་རིགས་པའི་རལ་གྲི་
• རིག་རལ་
• དར་མ་རྒྱལ་མཚན་

• bcom ldan ral gri
• bcom ldan rigs pa'i ral gri
• rig ral
• dar ma rgyal mtshan

Alternate names

• Rikrel
• bCom-ldan-ral-gri

Dates

Birth:	1227
Death:	1305
Place of birth:	lho kha (dbus)

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

Day
Month
Gender	Female
Element	Fire
Animal	Pig
Rab Jyung	4

Dates of passing

Day
Month
Gender	Female
Element	Wood
Animal	Snake
Rab Jyung	5

About

Religious Affiliation

Kadam

Primary Professional Affiliation

snar thang dgon pa

Teachers

mchims nam mkha' grags · skyo ston smon lam tshul khrims

Students

skyi ston shAkya 'bum · snye mdo kun dga' bzang po

Other Biographical info:

Links

BDRC Link

https://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=P1217

Treasury of Lives Link

https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Chomden-Rigpai-Reldri/TBRC_P1217

Wiki Pages

• Bcom ldan rig pa'i ral gri on the DRL
• Bcom ldan rig pa'i ral gri on the BNW

Buddha Nature Project

Person description or short bio

Famous Kadam scholar connected with Nartang (snar thang) monastery. His collected works are said to have once filled sixteen volumes and includes the earliest extant Tibetan commentary on the Uttaratantra that cites both tantric and sutric sources to corroborate the claims made in the treatise.

Expand to see this person's philosophical positions on Buddha-nature.

Is Buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional?
Position:	Definitive
Notes:	"In the opening part of his commentary, bCom-ldan-ral-gri defines the RGV as a treatise that imparts the definitive teaching of the Mahāyāna... bCom-ldan-ral-gri further characterizes the doctrine of Buddha-nature as definitive." Kano, K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, pp. 314-315.
All beings have Buddha-nature
Position:	Yes
If "Qualified", explain:
Notes:	"Rikrel, in contrast to Sapen and other scholars at Sakya monastery, argues that all sentient beings have an inherent buddha endowed with enlightened qualities within." Wangchuk, Tsering. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 29.
Which Wheel Turning
Position:	Third Turning
Notes:	According to Wangchuk, Tsering, "Rikrel not only situates the Uttaratantra within sutric Mahāyāna literature, but he also includes it in the last wheel as a work expounding on both sutras and tantric literature." The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 29. However, Kano suggests his view of RGV relates to both 2nd and 3rd turnings. "In his Byams pa dang 'grel ba'i chos kyi byung tshul, bCom-ldan-ral-gri asserts that the teaching of the RGV contradicts neither the Two Truths doctrine of Madhyamaka nor the Yogācāra doctrine of the Threefold Intrinsic Nature, while the other four treatises of Maitreya teach either one or the other of these two doctrines (but not both at the same time)." Kano, K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, p. 342.
Yogācāra vs Madhyamaka
Position:
Notes:
Zhentong vs Rangtong
Position:	Zhentong
Notes:	This assertion is applied retroactively since he predates the category. "bCom-ldan-ral-gri of sNar-thang monastery is, according to Tāranātha, a forerunner of the gzhan stong tradition established by Dol-po-pa. bCom-ldan-ral-gri, in his RGV commentary, does not systematically teach the gzhan stong doctrine (and is not, of course, aware that he would later be considered a gzhan stong forerunner), but he does expound some fragmentary elements that possibly fink him to the gzhan stong position of Dol-po-pa". Kano, K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, p. 342. "Given Rikrel's interpretation of the Uttaratantra, it is no wonder that later Jonang scholars would retrospectively include him in the Jonang lineage of other-emptiness transmission, even though he does not employ terms such as "other-emptiness" and "all-basis-gnosis" (kun gzhi ye shes), which would become crucial for Dölpopa's presentation of tathāgata-essence." Wangchuk, Tsering. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 30.
Promotes how many vehicles?
Position:
Notes:
Analytic vs Meditative Tradition
Position:	Meditative Tradition
Notes:	Though perhaps not explicitly fitting into this category, Kano states, "His understanding of Buddha-nature is compatible with that of the tradition of bTsan Kha-bo-che, which defines Buddha-nature as the “natural luminous mind,” and also in accordance with Dol-po-pa’s stance, which sees the Buddha-nature teaching being echoed in tantric literature." Kano, K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, p. 342. And, "...it is obvious that bCom-ldan-ral-gri does not follow rNgog’s reasoning that leads to identifying Buddha-nature with emptiness." Kano, K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, p. 316.
What is Buddha-nature?
Position:	Tathāgatagarbha as Mind's Luminous Nature
Notes:	"In his commentary on RGV I.3, bCom-ldan-ral-gri defines Buddha-nature as “the natural luminous mind that is inseparable from dharmatā,” and, glossing RGV 1.153, states: “the ultimate truth, which is unconditioned and primordially existent by itself, is the element (i.e. Buddha-nature).” Kano, K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, p. 342. (see also Ibid. p. 315.)
Svātantrika (རང་རྒྱུད་) vs Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་པ་)
Position:
Notes:
Causal nature of the vajrapāda
Position:

Disposition, lineage, or class; an individual's gotra determines the type of enlightenment one is destined to attain.

The Ultimate Continuum, or Gyü Lama, is often used as a short title in the Tibetan tradition for the key source text of buddha-nature teachings called the Ratnagotravibhāga of Maitreya/Asaṅga, also known as the Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra.

Refers to something that is taught for a specific reason, rather than because it is entirely true.

Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra

Mahāyāna, or the Great Vehicle, refers to the system of Buddhist thought and practice which developed around the beginning of Common Era, focusing on the pursuit of the state of full enlightenment of the Buddha through the realization of the wisdom of emptiness and the cultivation of compassion.

The Sakya tradition developed in the eleventh century in the Khön family of Tsang, which maintained an imperial-era lineage of Vajrakīla and which adopted a new teaching from India known as Lamdre.

The qualities or attributes of an enlightened being.

Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā.

Along with Madhyamaka, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu around the fourth century CE, many of its central tenets have roots in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the so-called third turning of the dharma wheel (see tridharmacakrapravartana).

The state of being devoid of that which is wholly different rather than being void of its own nature. The term is generally used to refer to the ultimate, or buddha-nature, being empty of other phenomena such as adventitious defiling emotions but not empty of its true nature.

The state of being empty of self, which references the lack of inherent existence in relative phenomena.

The state of being devoid of that which is wholly different rather than being void of its own nature. The term is generally used to refer to the ultimate, or buddha-nature, being empty of other phenomena such as adventitious defiling emotions but not empty of its true nature.

Although it is commonly used as an abbreviation of ālayavijñāna (kun gzhi'i rnam shes), in later Tibetan traditions, particularly that of the Kagyu and the Nyingma, it came to denote an ultimate or pure basis of mind, as opposed to the ordinary, deluded consciousness represented by the ālayavijñāna. Alternatively, in the Jonang tradition, this pure version is referred to as ālaya-wisdom (kun gzhi'i ye shes).

Tsen Khawoche's "meditative tradition" of exegesis of the Uttaratantra; it is one of two major Tibetan traditions of exegesis, both stemming from students of Sajjana.

The luminous aspect of mind that is often contrasted with its empty aspect. It is often used figuratively to reference the cognizant, or knowing, aspect of mind and sometimes more literally as the natural luminosity of mind and luminous wisdom that is experienced in meditation.

The state of being empty of an innate nature due to a lack of independently existing characteristics.

"Ultimate truth" or "absolute truth"; the reality of things as they truly are.