Mi nyag bla ma ye shes rdo rje

Mi nyag bla ma ye shes rdo rje on the DRL

Classical Tibetan Authors

མི་ཉག་བླ་མ་ཡེ་ཤེས་རྡོ་རྗེ་

Wylie	mi nyag bla ma ye shes rdo rje
English Phonetics	Minyak Lama Yeshe Dorje

Other names

• ཡེ་ཤེས་རྡོ་རྗེ་དཔལ་བཟང་པོ་

• ye shes rdo rje dpal bzang po

Alternate names

• Yeshé Dorje
• Yeshé Dorje Bal Sangpo

Dates

Birth:	14th Century

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

Teachers

Rma se ston pa rin chen bzang po · Karmapa, 3rd · Karmapa, 4th · bu ston rin chen grub

Other Biographical info:

Links

BDRC Link

https://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=P9718

Wiki Pages

• Mi nyag bla ma ye shes rdo rje on the DRL
• Mi nyag bla ma ye shes rdo rje on the LIB
• Mi nyag bla ma ye shes rdo rje on the BNW

Buddha Nature Project

Person description or short bio

Yeshe Dorje (born fourteenth century) from Minyak in Kham was a student of the Karma Kamtsang master Mase Tönpa Rinchen Zangpo (1317–1383), the second Gangkar Lama. The latter is known as one of "the five learned ones from Minyak" and was a student of the Third and Fourth Karmapas, Dölpopa, Butön, and several Kadampa masters. (Adapted from When the Clouds Part, p. 309)

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

Is Buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional?
Position:	Definitive
Notes:	"In particular, YDC refutes that the teaching on the tathāgata heart is one that bears an intention because its claimed bases of intention are not tenable, its purpose is not established, and there is no invalidation of this teaching." Brunnhölzl, K., When the Clouds Part, p. 310.
All beings have Buddha-nature
Position:	Yes
If "Qualified", explain:
Notes:	"YDC clearly subscribes to the disclosure model of buddha nature, asserting that the stainless tathāgata heart adorned with all major and minor marks as well as awakening exists in all beings, refuting that the reality of cessation is a nonimplicative negation, and denying the position that the fully qualified sugata heart exists solely on the buddhabhūmi, while it is only nominal at the time of sentient beings." Brunnhölzl, K., When the Clouds Part, p. 310.
Which Wheel Turning
Position:	Third Turning
Notes:	However, his work has an interesting approach to the second and third wheel turnings: " The second dharma wheel is said to teach primarily the way in which the phenomena of which the basis of emptiness is empty do not exist, while the third wheel teaches mainly that basis of emptiness. Therefore, there is no inner contradiction between these two dharma wheels." Brunnhölzl, K., When the Clouds Part, p. 310.
Yogācāra vs Madhyamaka
Position:	Madhyamaka
Notes:	"YDC denies that the Uttaratantra is a work that belongs to Mere Mentalism." Brunnhölzl, K., When the Clouds Part, p. 310.
Zhentong vs Rangtong
Position:	Rangtong
Notes:	It is not entirely clear that he would identify with the Rangtong view, but he seems to have issues with Zhentong, as Brunnhölzl points out: "Also, the emptiness taught in the buddha nature sūtras and the Uttaratantra is not "the emptiness of one’s being empty of something other," which is said to be the worst kind of emptiness in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra, but corresponds to this sūtra’s 'great ultimate emptiness of the wisdom of the noble ones.'" Brunnhölzl, K., When the Clouds Part, p. 310.
Promotes how many vehicles?
Position:
Notes:
Analytic vs Meditative Tradition
Position:	Analytic Tradition
Notes:	The lineage included within his work on the Uttaratantra passes through Ngok and others who upheld his tradition. See Brunnhölzl, K., When the Clouds Part, p. 309.
What is Buddha-nature?
Position:	Tathāgatagarbha as the Latent State of Buddhahood that is Obscured in Sentient Beings
Notes:	"YDC clearly subscribes to the disclosure model of buddha nature, asserting that the stainless tathāgata heart adorned with all major and minor marks as well as awakening exists in all beings, refuting that the reality of cessation is a nonimplicative negation, and denying the position that the fully qualified sugata heart exists solely on the buddhabhūmi, while it is only nominal at the time of sentient beings." Brunnhölzl, K., When the Clouds Part, p. 310.
Svātantrika (རང་རྒྱུད་) vs Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་པ་)
Position:
Notes:
Causal nature of the vajrapāda
Position:

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

A negation that merely denies the existence of something without implicitly suggesting an alternative.

Literally, the "essence" or "heart of the Bliss Gone One(s)," a synonym for tathāgatagarbha that is likewise often rendered into English by the term buddha-nature. Though it is often back translated into Sanskrit as sugatagarbha, this term is not found in Sanskrit sources.

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

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 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.

Though it is sometimes used synonymously with Yogācāra, it is in fact one of the more prominent philosophical theories associated with this school. It asserts that the objects in the external world with which we interact are actually mentally created representations appearing as those objects. The character of these perceptions is predetermined by our own karmic conditioning that is stored in the ālayavijñāna.

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.

Ngok Lotsāwa Loden Sherab's "analytic tradition" of exegesis of the Uttaratantra; one of two major Tibetan traditions of exegesis, both stemming from students of Sajjana.