Liebenthal, W.

Liebenthal, W. on the DRL

Authors of English Works • Translators • Professors

English Phonetics	Walter Liebenthal

Dates

Birth:	1886/06/12
Death:	1982/11/15
Place of birth:	Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia)

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

Dates of passing

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

About

Secondary Affiliation

Sino-Indian Institute, Yenching University of Peking, China, research fellow, 1934–36; Peking University, China, lecturer in Sanskrit and German, 1937; Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, India, senior research fellow 1952–54, visiting professor of Sino-Indian Studies 1955–59; Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel, visiting professor, 1959; Institut des Hautes Études Chinoises, Sorbonne, Paris, France, 1960; University of Tübingen, Germany, honorary professor, 1962

Teachers

Dr. Johannes Nobel · Max Walleser · Otto Strauss.

PhD University

University of Breslau

Education

Indological studies at the universities of Berlin, Marburg, Heidelberg, Halle and Breslau.

Biographical Information

Walter Liebenthal (12 June 1886 – 15 November 1982), was a German philosopher and sinologist who specialized in Chinese Buddhism. He translated many philosophical works from Pali, Sanskrit and specially from Chinese into German. Based upon his extensive research in Indian Buddhism and Chinese religion, one of his main conclusions was that early Chinese Buddhism through Ch'an (Zen-) was not a Chinese version of Indian Buddhism, but rather, that it developed from Taoism, a Chinese religion. Indian concepts are present, but at the core it represents a Chinese perspective. (Source Accessed March 31, 2020)

Publications

"Satkarya in der Darstellung seiner buddhistischen Gegner". 8 vo. 151 pp Kohlhammer, Stuttgart-Berlin 1934.

"Sutra to the Lord of Healing" (Bhaishajya-grun Vaiduryaprabha Tathagata), 32 pp. Ed. by Chou Su-Chia and translated by Walter Liebenthal. Buddhist Scripture Series No.1, Society of Chinese Buddhists, Peiping 1936.

“The Book of Chao”. Monumenta Serica, Series XIII 8 vo. 195 pp. Peking 1948.

"Tao-sheng and His Time". Monumenta Nipponica, XI, XII, 34 pp, Tokyo 1955/6, Monograph No.17.

Walter Liebenthal: A Biography of Chu Tao-Sheng, Monumenta Nipponica Vol. 11, No. 3 (Oct., 1955), pp. 284–316.

The World Conception of Chu Tao-Sheng. Monumenta Nipponica, 8 vo. Nbrs.1 & 2, Tokyo 1956.

"On World Interpretations". 8vo. 88 pp. Santiniketan 1956. (appeared serially in the Visvabharati Quarterly XX. 1, 3 & 4; XXI. 1 & 4 during 1954/6.

"Chao Lun: The Treatises of Seng-Chao", 2nd Rev edition, 152 pp. Hong Kong University Press, sold by Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-643104-2.

“Das Wu-men kuan: Zutritt nur durch die Wand / Wu-men Hui-k'ai“. 142 pp. Heidelberg: Lambert Schneider, 1977.

Links

Wiki Pages

• Liebenthal, W. on the DRL
• Liebenthal, W. on the LIB
• Liebenthal, W. on the BNW

Buddha Nature Project

Person description or short bio

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

Is Buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional?
Position:
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All beings have Buddha-nature
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If "Qualified", explain:
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Which Wheel Turning
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Yogācāra vs Madhyamaka
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Zhentong vs Rangtong
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Promotes how many vehicles?
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Analytic vs Meditative Tradition
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What is Buddha-nature?
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Svātantrika (རང་རྒྱུད་) vs Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་པ་)
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Causal nature of the vajrapāda
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Refers to something that is taught for a specific reason, rather than because it is entirely true.

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 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.

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.