Rta nag rin chen ye shes

Rta nag rin chen ye shes on the DRL

Classical Tibetan Authors

རྟ་ནག་རིན་ཆེན་ཡེ་ཤེས་

Wylie	rta nag rin chen ye shes
English Phonetics	Tanak Rinchen Yeshe

Other names

• རིན་ཆེན་ཡེ་ཤེས་
• རྟ་ནག་རིན་ཡེ་

• rin chen ye shes
• rta nag rin ye

Notes on Names

There seems to be some confusion with this person and Zhang rin chen ye shes. In terms of the authorship of this work rgyud bla ma'i 'grel pa, BDRC attributes it to Zhang rin chen ye shes, while Tsering Wangchuk in The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows repeatedly associates this work with rta nag rin chen ye shes, though this assessment seems to be based, at least partially, on the research of Cyrus Stearns found in The Buddha from Dölpo.

Dates

Birth:	13th Century
Death:	1345/1346
Notes on dates:	There are no specific dates for this figure, though the estimate of his death is based on a statement in the biography of Thogs med bzang po that he passed away shortly after they met in 1345.

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

smon lam mgon

Students

Thogs med bzang po · Dol po pa

Other Biographical info:

Links

BDRC Link

https://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=P0RK965

Wiki Pages

• Rta nag rin chen ye shes on the DRL
• Rta nag rin chen ye shes on the BNW

Buddha Nature Project

Person description or short bio

"Rinchen Yeshe, an expert on the five works of Maitreya, flourished in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and was primarily a teacher of Tokme Zangpo (1295–1369). He also briefly taught Dölpopa and is mentioned in Butön’s biography as an esteemed colleague." (Adapted from When the Clouds Part, p. 308.)

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

Is Buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional?
Position:	Definitive
Notes:	"Rinchen Yeshé's careful text-critical analysis is meant to demonstrate that the Uttaratantra explicates the ultimate definitive meaning of the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra, Śrīmālādevīsūtra, Laṅkāvatārasūtra, and others..." Wangchuk, Tsering. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 35.
All beings have Buddha-nature
Position:	Yes
If "Qualified", explain:	*"Rinchen Yeshé quotes from these last-wheel sutras to show that the tathāgata-essence endowed with the marks and signs of a buddha (sangs rgyas kyi mtshan dang dpe byad) naturally exists in all sentient beings." "Therefore, for Rinchen Yeshé, buddha-nature is not simply a causal potential to achieve enlightenment; rather it is endowed with an inherent enlightened entity that is naturally free from all delusions, but temporarily covered by adventitious defilements."
Notes:	Wangchuk, Tsering. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, pp. 35-36
Which Wheel Turning
Position:	Third Turning
Notes:	*"He obviously contrasts the last-wheel teachings that teach ultimate definite meaning from the middle-wheel sutras such as the Prajñāpāramitāsūtras that, according to him, do not primarily teach the ultimate definitive meaning. Rather, as Rinchen Yeshé argues: 'All phenomena that are taught as empty of true existence in the middle wheel teachings, like illusions and so forth, refer [only] to conditioned conventional phenomena. The sugata-essence (bde gshegs snying po) that is explained as true and unchanging in the last wheel teachings refers to the ultimate dharma-reality, an unconditioned phenomenon.' Therefore, the middle-wheel teachings explain how conventional phenomena, such as tables, chairs, and the like, are empty of inherent existence like an illusory image. These sutras do not explicate the unconditioned ultimate truth that is primarily taught in the definitive last-wheel sutras." Wangchuk, Tsering. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 36.
Yogācāra vs Madhyamaka
Position:	Yogācāra
Notes:	Though this is perhaps up for debate, he certainly sides with the works of Maitreya and the last wheel sūtras over those of the Prajñāpāramitāsūtras and the associated Madhyamaka works, which he labels as a "nihilistic emptiness (chad pa'i stong pa nyid). See Wangchuk, Tsering. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 36.
Zhentong vs Rangtong
Position:	Zhentong
Notes:	Technically he was more of a precursor to this view, though as an important teacher to Dölpopa, especially for the Five Treatises of Maitreya it is no wonder that the latter's view is heavily indebted to Rinchen Yeshe. See Wangchuk, Tsering. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, pp. 35-36. Brunnhölzl, K., When the Clouds Part, pp. 308-309.
Promotes how many vehicles?
Position:
Notes:
Analytic vs Meditative Tradition
Position:
Notes:
What is Buddha-nature?
Position:	Tathāgatagarbha as the Emptiness That is an Implicative Negation (with enlightened qualities)
Notes:	He doesn't state this explicitly but his presentation fall within this category. For instance: "...he argues, 'Because freedom from adventitious defilements is the very nature of the tathāgata-element since the primordial time, there are no afflictive emotions that need to be eliminated [from the element]. Because the perfect dharma-reality that is indivisible from enlightened qualities is the very nature of the tathāgata-element, there are no virtuous qualities that need to be newly acquired.'" Wangchuk, Tsering. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 35.
Svātantrika (རང་རྒྱུད་) vs Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་པ་)
Position:
Notes:
Causal nature of the vajrapāda
Position:

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

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.

Refers to a teaching that is literally true.

Mental stains that are not inherent to the nature of the mind but are temporarily present as the residue of past actions or habitual tendencies. It is sometimes iterated as adventitious defilements (Skt. āgantukakleśa, Tib. glo bur gyi nyon mongs), which references the fickle and temporary nature of disturbing emotions that lack an ultimately established basis for existence.

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.

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.

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

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.

The qualities or attributes of an enlightened being.

Often referred to as poisons, these are a class of disturbing or disruptive emotional states that when aroused negatively affect or taint the mind.