Gsang phu ba blo gros mtshungs med

Gsang phu ba blo gros mtshungs med on the DRL

Classical Tibetan Authors

གསང་ཕུ་བ་བློ་གྲོས་མཚུངས་མེད་

Wylie	gsang phu ba blo gros mtshungs med
English Phonetics	Sangpuwa Lodrö Tsungme

Notes on Names

See Kano, K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, pp. 320-324 for an overview of the various figures known as blo gros mtshungs med. Note that the BDRC person page likely conflates two of these figures, i.e. gsang phu ba and gnyal ba.

Dates

Birth:	14th Century
Place of birth:	dbus

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

Dates of passing

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

About

Religious Affiliation

Kadam

Students

g.yag sde paN chen · rang byung rdo rje

Biographical Information

A Kadam scholar from Sangpu Neutok Monastery who was known for his expertise in the Five Treatises of Maitreya. He was a contemporary of both Dölpopa and Butön and a teacher of the Sakya scholar Yakde Paṇchen and the Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje.

Links

BDRC Link (P63)

https://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=P63

Treasury of Lives Link

https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/blo-gros-mtshungs-med/P63

Wiki Pages

• Gsang phu ba blo gros mtshungs med on the DRL
• Gsang phu ba blo gros mtshungs med on the BNW

Buddha Nature Project

Person description or short bio

A Kadam scholar from Sangpu Neutok Monastery that was known for his expertise in the Five Treatises of Maitreya. He was a senior contemporary of both Dölpopa and Butön and a teacher of the Sakya scholar Yakde Paṇchen and the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje.

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

Is Buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional?
Position:	Definitive
Notes:	"Sangpu Lodrö's commentary frames the Uttaratantra in a positive light, arguing that it is a commentary on definitive sutras included in the last-wheel teachings that are "exceedingly secret among the secrets," and that it teaches that all beings have a tathāgata-essence endowed with enlightened qualities." Wangchuk, Tsering. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 31.
All beings have Buddha-nature
Position:	Yes
If "Qualified", explain:
Notes:	*"He claims that tathāgata-essence exists in all sentient beings in a fully enlightened form. He states that: the dharma-body is dharma-reality indivisible from [buddha] qualities. Since there is no objection to the fact that the dharma-body exists pervasively in all sentient beings, in the manner of one entity; it is unacceptable to present it, [i.e., the existence of the dharma-body in sentient beings] as [merely] imputed." Wangchuk, Tsering. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 32. "Blo-gros mtshungs-med asserts that... sentient beings truly possess the dharmakāya, which is the dharmadhātu inseparable from the qualities." Kano, K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, p. 329.
Which Wheel Turning
Position:	Third Turning
Notes:	"Sangpu Lodrö's commentary frames the Uttaratantra in a positive light, arguing that it is a commentary on definitive sutras included in the last-wheel teachings..." Wangchuk, Tsering. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 31.
Yogācāra vs Madhyamaka
Position:	Madhyamaka
Notes:	"Nevertheless, even though the Uttaratantra and the sutras on which the Uttaratantra is based occupy a position of higher scriptural authority than the middle-wheel teachings of the Prajñāpāramitāsūtras, Sangpu Lodrö claims that both the middle-wheel scriptures and the Uttaratantra teach emptiness. He argues: 'The sutras for the Uttaratantra and the Uttaratantra [itself] do not contradict the Prajñāpāramitāsūtras because the emptiness of inherent existence of all phenomena taught there [in the Prajñāpāramitāsūtras] is the dharma-body explicated here [in the last wheel sutras and the Uttaratantra].'" Wangchuk, Tsering. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 33.
Zhentong vs Rangtong
Position:
Notes:
Promotes how many vehicles?
Position:	1
Notes:	"Blo-gros-mtshungs-med for his part is more intent on harmonizing the expression in the RGV with other scriptures, and probably was fully conscious of the fact that lack of reverence for śrāvakas contradicted his ekayāna stance." Kano, K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, p. 327.
Analytic vs Meditative Tradition
Position:
Notes:
What is Buddha-nature?
Position:	There are several types of Tathāgatagarbha
Notes:	*Wangchuk, Tsering. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 32. "One of the central doctrinal points of Blo-gros-mtshungs-med’s position is the two modes of Buddha-nature: the gnosis aspect and sphere aspect. Under the former, Buddha-nature is existent in terms of its qualities, while under the latter it is empty in terms of its mode of existence. Kano, K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, p. 336.
Svātantrika (རང་རྒྱུད་) vs Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་པ་)
Position:
Notes:
Causal nature of the vajrapāda
Position:

Buddhist Digital Resource Center https://www.tbrc.org/

Sangpu Neutok is an important monastery in central Tibet, just south of Lhasa, that was founded in 1072 by Ngok Lekpai Sherab, a disciple of Atiśa, and developed by his nephew, Ngok Lotsāwa Loden Sherab. Originally a Kadam monastery with two colleges, it evolved into a monastery that includes both Sakya and Geluk traditions. At its peak in the 11th to 14th centuries, it was one of the most highly esteemed centers for monastic education and the study of Buddhist philosophy in all of the Tibetan plateau. Many influential philosophers of the time studied there.

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.

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

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.

The qualities or attributes of an enlightened being.

The fundamental expanse from which all phenomena emerge.

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).

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.

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

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.

Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra

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.