Candrakīrti

Candrakīrti on the DRL

Classical Indian Authors

ཟླ་བ་གྲགས་པ་

Wylie	zla ba grags pa
Romanized Sanskrit	Candrakīrti

Dates

Birth:	c. 570
Death:	c. 640

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

Nalanda; Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka

Teachers

Nāgārjuna · Āryadeva

Other Biographical info:

Links

BDRC Link

https://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=P5782

Wiki Pages

• Candrakīrti on the DRL
• Candrakīrti on the LIB
• Candrakīrti on the BNW

Buddha Nature Project

Person description or short bio

An important Madhyamaka master and commentator on the works of Nāgārjuna and Āryadeva, associated especially with what would later be known as the Prāsaṅgika branch of Madhyamaka. Very little is known about his life; according to Tibetan sources, he was from south India and a student of Kamalabuddhi. He may have been a monk of Nālandā. He wrote commentaries on Nāgārjuna’s Yuktiṣaṣṭikā and Śūnyatāsaptati as well as Āryadeva's Catuḥśataka. His two most famous and influential works, however, are his Prasannapadā (Clear Words), which is a commentary on Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, and his Madhyamakāvatāra (Entrance to the Middle Way). (Source: "Candrakīrti." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 165. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)

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

Is Buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional?
Position:	Provisional
Notes:	"Buddha nature was taught merely as a means of temporarily easing ordinary persons of their fear of selflessness and of attracting non-Buddhists." Kano, K. Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, p. 9.
All beings have Buddha-nature
Position:
If "Qualified", explain:
Notes:
Which Wheel Turning
Position:
Notes:
Yogācāra vs Madhyamaka
Position:
Notes:
Zhentong vs Rangtong
Position:
Notes:
Promotes how many vehicles?
Position:
Notes:
Analytic vs Meditative Tradition
Position:
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What is Buddha-nature?
Position:	Tathāgatagarbha was Taught Merely to Encourage Sentient Beings to Enter the Path
Notes:	"Buddha nature was taught merely as a means of temporarily easing ordinary persons of their fear of selflessness and of attracting non-Buddhists." Kano, K. Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, p. 9.
Svātantrika (རང་རྒྱུད་) vs Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་པ་)
Position:
Notes:
Causal nature of the vajrapāda
Position:

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.

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.

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

The nonexistence of the self as a permanent, unchanging entity.

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).

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.