Heshang Moheyan

Heshang Moheyan on the DRL

Ordained (Monks and Nuns)

English Phonetics	Heshang Moheyan

Alternate names

• Hashang
• Hva-shang Mahayana
• Hashang Mahayana
• Hwashang Mahayan
• Hvashang Moheyan
• Śramaṇa Mahāyāna

Dates

Birth:	8th century
Death:	9th century

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

Day
Month
Gender
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Animal
Rab Jyung

Dates of passing

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

About

Other Biographical info:

Links

Wiki Pages

• Heshang Moheyan on the DRL
• Heshang Moheyan on the LIB
• Heshang Moheyan on the BNW

Buddha Nature Project

Person description or short bio

Heshang Moheyan [or Hashang Mahāyāna] was the Chinese abbot whom Kamalashila defeated in a famous debate at Samyé. He is said to have been a representative of a form of Ch’an meditation, but in a rather nihilistic form. He taught that meditation consists of not doing anything at all in the mind, and that this can bring about sudden enlightenment, without the need even to practice the six paramitas. Tibetan scholars throughout the centuries have often accused one another of adhering to Hashang’s system, and often put this down to the particular tendrel created when he “left his shoes behind” in Tibet following his defeat. (Source Accesses October 22, 2019)

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

Is Buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional?
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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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Mahāyāna, or the Great Vehicle, refers to the system of Buddhist thought and practice which developed around the beginning of Common Era, focusing on the pursuit of the state of full enlightenment of the Buddha through the realization of the wisdom of emptiness and the cultivation of compassion.

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.