Btsan kha bo che

Btsan kha bo che on the DRL

Classical Tibetan Authors

བཙན་ཁ་བོ་ཆེ་

Wylie	btsan kha bo che
English Phonetics	Tsen Khawoche

Other names

• དྲི་མེད་ཤེས་རབ་

• dri med shes rab

Dates

Birth:	1021

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

Day
Month
Gender	Female
Element	Iron
Animal	Bird
Rab Jyung

Dates of passing

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

About

Religious Affiliation

Kadam

Teachers

grwa pa mngon shes · Sajjana

Other Biographical info:

Links

BDRC Link

https://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=P4654

Treasury of Lives Link

https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Tsen-Khawoche/7113

Wiki Pages

• Btsan kha bo che on the DRL
• Btsan kha bo che on the LIB
• Btsan kha bo che on the BNW

Buddha Nature Project

Person description or short bio

The namesake of the Tsen Tradition (btsan lugs) of the exegesis of the Uttaratantra, commonly referred to as the Meditation Tradition (sgom lugs). He travelled to Kashmir when he was in his mid-50's in 1076 along with Ngok Lotsāwa and others to study with various scholars, including Sajjana. With Zu Gawai Dorje acting as his translator, he famously requested instructions on the Uttaratantra from Sajjana in order to make it his "death practice" ('chi chos). These instructions became the basis for the Tsen Tradition, which was an important progenitor for later interpretations of the Uttaratantra, such as those associated with Zhentong and Mahāmudrā. He returned to Tibet in 1089, some two or three years before Ngok, and thus was likely the first Tibetan to begin propagating the teachings he had received from Sajjana on the Five Treatises of Maitreya on Tibetan soil.

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

Is Buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional?
Position:	Definitive
Notes:	Karl Brunnhölzl cites ShAkya mchog ldan: "The definitive meaning that he found from having studied the dharmas of Maitreya is explained by those in his lineage as follows. The sugata heart is the naturally pure wisdom, luminous by nature, that pervades [everyone] from buddhas to sentient beings. In earlier times these [two approaches] were known as "the difference between explaining the dharmas of Maitreya as the tradition of characteristics (mtshan nyid kyi lugs) and explaining them as the meditative tradition (sgom lugs)." However, in both cases there is no contradiction because the explanation according to the first approach is more profound at the time of eliminating the clinging to characteristics, while the explanation according to the latter approach is needed so that the sugata heart can function as the support of qualities." Brunnhölzl, K., When the Clouds Part, p. 124.
All beings have Buddha-nature
Position:	Yes
If "Qualified", explain:
Notes:	Karl Brunnhölzl cites ShAkya mchog ldan: "The sugata heart is the naturally pure wisdom, luminous by nature, that pervades everyone from buddhas to sentient beings." Brunnhölzl, K., When the Clouds Part, p. 124.
Which Wheel Turning
Position:	Third Turning
Notes:	"Kunga Drölcho provides some context for Dsen Kawoché’s view and for the following excerpts from the latter’s teachings, which Kunga Drölcho compiled as Guiding Instructions on the View of Other-Emptiness: As for the Guiding Instructions on the View of Other-Emptiness, Dsen Kawoché said, "The Kashmiri paṇḍita Sajjana made the following very essential statement: ‘The victor turned the wheel of dharma three times—the first wheel teaches the four realities of the noble ones, the second one teaches the lack of characteristics, and the final one makes excellent distinctions. Among these, the first two do not distinguish between what is actual and what is nominal. The last one was spoken at the point of certainty about the ultimate by distinguishing between the middle and extremes and by distinguishing between phenomena and the nature of phenomena. " Brunnhölzl, K., When the Clouds Part, pp. 142-143.
Yogācāra vs Madhyamaka
Position:	Yogācāra
Notes:	Karl cites Kongtrul stating, "TOK calls Ngog’s tradition of the Maitreya texts "the oral transmission of explanation" (bshad pa’i bka’ babs) and Dsen’s lineage, "the oral transmission of practice" (sgrub pa’i bka’ babs), saying that they are asserted to hold the views of Madhyamaka and Mere Mentalism, respectively." Brunnhölzl, K., When the Clouds Part, p. 124.
Zhentong vs Rangtong
Position:
Notes:	He predates the category, but as Stearns remarks, "Tsen Kawoché . . . is often thought to be the first Tibetan to have taught what later came to be known as the Zhentong view." See Stearns, C., The Buddha from Dolpo, pp. 42–3 and pp. 88–9.
Promotes how many vehicles?
Position:
Notes:
Analytic vs Meditative Tradition
Position:	Meditative Tradition
Notes:	*"These two traditions of rngog and btsan were respectively called the "analytical tradition" (thos bsam gyi lugs) and "meditative tradition" (sgom lugs)." Kano, K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, p. 242 "The lineage through Ngog Lotsāwa is often called "the exegetical tradition of the dharma works of Maitreya" (byams chos bshad lugs), while Dsen Kawoché’s transmissions represent "the meditative tradition of the dharma works of Maitreya" (byams chos sgom lugs)." Brunnhölzl, K., When the Clouds Part, p. 123.
What is Buddha-nature?
Position:	Tathāgatagarbha as Mind's Luminous Nature
Notes:	*Kano. K., Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, p. 242, footnote 4. Van der Kuijp via Shakya mchog ldan. Mathes cites Gö Lotsāwa as stating, "The followers of the tradition of Tsen (Btsan) maintain that since the luminous nature of mind is the buddha nature, the cause of buddha[hood] is fertile" Mathes, K., A Direct Path to the Buddha Within, p. 33. "According to BA, those who follow the tradition of Dsen Kawoché (Tib. Btsan Kha bo che) hold that since the tathāgata heart is the naturally luminous nature of the mind, it is the powerful vital cause of buddhahood. TOK agrees, saying that, according to the Eighth Situpa, the texts in Dsen Kawoché’s lineage accepted a really established, self-aware, self-luminous cognition empty of the duality of apprehender and apprehended to be the powerful vital cause of buddhahood." Brunnhölzl, K., When the Clouds Part, p. 65. Karl Brunnhölzl cites ShAkya mchog ldan: "The sugata heart is the naturally pure wisdom, luminous by nature, that pervades everyone from buddhas to sentient beings." Brunnhölzl, K., When the Clouds Part, p. 124.
Svātantrika (རང་རྒྱུད་) vs Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་པ་)
Position:
Notes:
Causal nature of the vajrapāda
Position:

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 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.

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 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.

Mahāmudrā refers to an advanced meditation tradition in Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna forms of Into-Tibetan Buddhism that is focused on the realization of the empty and luminous nature of the mind. It also refers to the resultant state of buddhahood attained through such meditation practice. In Tibet, this tradition is particularly associated with the Kagyu school, although all other schools also profess this tradition. The term also appears as part of the four seals, alongside dharmamūdra, samayamudrā, and karmamudrā.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

This refers to a series of five texts that, according to the Tibetan tradition, Asaṅga received directly from Maitreya in the pure realm of Tuṣita.

Commonly found in Dzogchen and Mahāmudrā literature, this term denotes the true, natural state of mind as it is. Often used in these traditions as a synonym for buddha-nature.

The Blue Annals

An important term for the Yogācāra that refers to a consciousness of consciousness itself, or how one knows that they know something. It was a hotly debated topic that was disputed by followers of the Madhyamaka. In Tibet it would later become a common Dzogchen term, though with the entirely different meaning of one's own innate awareness (rig pa), a crucial concept in the Dzogchen teachings.