Jayānanda
| Wylie | rgyal ba kun dga' |
|---|---|
| Romanized Sanskrit | Jayānanda |
- ཁ་ཆེའི་པཎྜི་ཏ་ཛཱ་ཡ་ཨ་ནནྡ་
- kha che'i paN+Di ta dzA ya a nan+da
| Birth: | 11th century |
|---|---|
| Death: | 12th century |
Tibetan calendar dates
- Students
- rma bya byang chub brtson 'grus
Other Biographical info:
- Wiki Pages
- Person description or short bio
- Jayānanda (Tib. རྒྱལ་བ་ཀུན་དགའ, gyalwa kün ga, Wyl. rgyal ba kun dga') was the author of an important commentary on the Introduction to the Middle Way (Madhyamakāvatāra) by Candrakīrti called the Madhyamakāvatāraṭīkā.
The Tibetan literature has not preserved very much about Jayānanda. He appears to have publicly debated with Phya-pa Chos-kyi seng-ge (1109–1169) on madhyamaka subjects at Gsang-phu ne'u-thog monastery, of which the latter was abbot for eighteen years, most likely from 1152 to 1169, which resulted in a public defeat for him by that unique thinker who was one of Tibet's few, but foremost opponents of the *prāsaṇgika-madyamaka. The great Gser-mdog Paṇ-chen Śākya-mchog ldan (1428–1507) writes that he thereafter left Tibet for Mount Wutai. In this connection, it is rather curious that he also writes . . . that Jayānanda had composed the Madhayamakāvatāravṛtti in Tibet. This work was not very much studied in later times, akthough a notable exception seems to have been Tsong-kha-pa, who cites it severally in some of his major writings, and then usually in a highly critical vein, particularly in connection with its "Tibetan followers." His influence in Tibet was nonetheless not inconsiderable. Among his many disciples, we should count Rma-bya Brtson-'grus seng-ge (?–1185) who, in fact, wrote a commentary on the Tarkamudgarakārikā. So far, it seems that only his exegesis of the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā has been presevered by way of a late nineteenth century Sde-dge blockprint. (Leonard W. J. van der Kuijp, "Jayānanda. A Twelfth Century Guoshi from Kashmir Among the Tangut." Central Asiatic Journal 37, no. 3/4 (1993): 188–97)
Expand to see this person's philosophical positions on Buddha-nature.
| Is Buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional? | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Provisional |
| Notes: | *"Jayānanda is arguably the first scholar who indicated that the Uttaratantra is provisional within the Tibetan intellectual landscape." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 14.
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| All beings have Buddha-nature | |
| Position: | Qualified Yes |
| If "Qualified", explain: | Since he equates the teachings on buddha-nature as an expedient way to teach emptiness, all beings have it because emptiness is pervasive. |
| Notes: | Kano, K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, p. 151. |
| Which Wheel Turning | |
| Position: | |
| Notes: | |
| Yogācāra vs Madhyamaka | |
| Position: | Yogācāra |
| Notes: | Though he was a follower of Madhyamaka, he likely equates the buddha-nature teachings with Yogācāra, as he deems both to be provisional. |
| Zhentong vs Rangtong | |
| Position: | |
| Notes: | |
| Promotes how many vehicles? | |
| Position: | 1 |
| Notes: | *Kano, K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, p. 150.
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| Analytic vs Meditative Tradition | |
| Position: | |
| Notes: | |
| What is Buddha-nature? | |
| Position: | Tathāgatagarbha was Taught Merely to Encourage Sentient Beings to Enter the Path |
| Notes: | "...He states that Buddha-nature was taught in order to attract those who fear emptiness. Kano, K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, pp. 150-151. |
| Svātantrika (རང་རྒྱུད་) vs Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་པ་) | |
| Position: | Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་) |
| Notes: | *Kano, K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, p. 148. |
| Causal nature of the vajrapāda | |
| Position: | |