Rgyal tshab rje dar ma rin chen

Rgyal tshab rje dar ma rin chen on the DRL

Classical Tibetan Authors

རྒྱལ་ཚབ་རྗེ་དར་མ་རིན་ཆེན་

Wylie	rgyal tshab rje dar ma rin chen
English Phonetics	Gyaltsap Je Darma Rinchen

Other names

• རྒྱལ་ཚབ་རྗེ་
• དགའ་ལྡན་ཁྲི་པ་༠༢་

• rgyal tshab rje
• dga' ldan khri pa 02

Alternate names

• Ganden Tripa, 2nd

Dates

Birth:	1364
Death:	1432
Place of birth:	myang stod ri nang (gtsang)

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

Day
Month
Gender	Male
Element	Wood
Animal	Dragon
Rab Jyung	6

Dates of passing

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

About

Religious Affiliation

Geluk

Teachers

Tsong kha pa · Red mda' ba gzhon nu blo gros

Students

'jam dbyangs chos rje bkra shis dpal ldan · Dalai Lama, 1st · mkhas grub rje · 'dul 'dzin grags pa rgyal mtshan

Other Biographical info:

Alternative birth date 1362.

• one of the two chief disciples of tsong kha pa and his first successor on the seat of dga' ldan, 1419-1431.

dga' ldan dgon pa dang brag yer pa'i lo rgyus (p. 58)

• birth 1364 at ri nang (nyang stod)
• Assumes Office 1419 Dga' ldan khri at dga' ldan dgon (stag rtse rdzong)
• Leaves Office 1431 Dga' ldan khri at dga' ldan dgon (stag rtse rdzong)
• death 1432

• Took the degree of dka' bcu pa at sa skya, gsang phu, and rtsed thang.

debated against rong ston and against g.yag phrug pa.

1419: came to the throne of dga' ldan and served ll years.

gsung 'bum in 8 volumes.

Links

BDRC Link

https://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=P65

Treasury of Lives Link

https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Gyeltsab-Darma-Rinchen/9095

Wiki Pages

• Rgyal tshab rje dar ma rin chen on the DRL
• Rgyal tshab rje dar ma rin chen on the LIB
• Rgyal tshab rje dar ma rin chen on the BNW

Buddha Nature Project

Person description or short bio

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

Is Buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional?
Position:	Definitive
Notes:	"So, Gyeltsap claims that both the Madhyamakāvatāra and the Uttaratantra explain the same meaning of ultimate truth. Hence, they are both definitive works that explicate the intention of the middle wheel." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 107.
All beings have Buddha-nature
Position:	Qualified Yes
If "Qualified", explain:	"Gyeltsap thus shows that ultimately both buddhas and sentient beings share the same suchness of mind which is the ultimate nature of mind that is free from natural defilements. Because of this he argues that all sentient beings have tathāgata-essence, and it is through this that he establishes the connection between tathāgata-essence and the concept of one-vehicle, the notion that ultimately there is only the final goal of buddhahood."
Notes:	Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 99.
Which Wheel Turning
Position:	Second Turning
Notes:	"So, Gyeltsap claims that both the Madhyamakāvatāra and the Uttaratantra explain the same meaning of ultimate truth. Hence, they are both definitive works that explicate the intention of the middle wheel." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 107. However, this is a tricky issue and elsewhere Wangchuk states, "For Gyeltsap, there is no contradiction in saying that the Uttaratantra comments on both last-wheel sutras and the middle-wheel sutras." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 102.
Yogācāra vs Madhyamaka
Position:	Madhyamaka
Notes:	*"In his Uttaratantra commentary, Gyeltsap shows the strong influence of Tsongkhapa's Illuminating the Thoughts of the Madhyamaka. He criticizes those who propose that the Uttaratantra is a Cittamātra text, arguing that it explicates the ultimate truth presented in the Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 98. "Gyeltsap says, "It is not to be asserted that Ācārya Asaṅga is described as a proponent of Vijñāptimātratā; otherwise it would completely contradict his detailed explanation of the one final vehicle and the presentation of subtle emptiness in his Uttaratantra commentary." Gyeltsap argues that the emptiness explained in the Uttaratantra and its commentary by Asaṅga is subtle emptiness, and it does not differ from the emptiness that is delineated in the Prajñāpāramitāsūtras." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 100.
Zhentong vs Rangtong
Position:	Rangtong
Notes:
Promotes how many vehicles?
Position:	1
Notes:	"Gyeltsap thus shows that ultimately both buddhas and sentient beings share the same suchness of mind which is the ultimate nature of mind that is free from natural defilements. Because of this he argues that all sentient beings have tathāgata-essence, and it is through this that he establishes the connection between tathāgata-essence and the concept of one-vehicle, the notion that ultimately there is only the final goal of buddhahood." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 99.
Analytic vs Meditative Tradition
Position:
Notes:
What is Buddha-nature?
Position:	Tathāgatagarbha as the Emptiness That is a Non-implicative Negation (without enlightened qualities)
Notes:	"In brief, Gyeltsap argues that buddha-nature, or tathāgata-essence, does not refer to a fully enlightened entity covered by adventitious defilements. Rather it is the same as the emptiness of inherent existence that is explicated in texts such as the Prajñāpāramitāsūtras and Madhyamakāvatāra." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 106.
Svātantrika (རང་རྒྱུད་) vs Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་པ་)
Position:	Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་)
Notes:	*"In his Uttaratantra commentary, Gyeltsap shows the strong influence of Tsongkhapa's Illuminating the Thoughts of the Madhyamaka. He criticizes those who propose that the Uttaratantra is a Cittamātra text, arguing that it explicates the ultimate truth presented in the Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 98. "In arguing that the emptiness expounded in the Prajñāpāramitāsūtras and the tathāgata-essence explicated in the Uttaratantra are the same, Gyeltsap accords the status to the Uttaratantra equal to that of Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, Candrakīrti's Madhyamakāvatāra, and other Madhyamaka treatises which present the ultimate view of Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 100.
Causal nature of the vajrapāda
Position:

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

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.

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

Suchness itself, absolute reality, or thusness, as in the ultimate state of being of phenomena.

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.

Literally, that which obscures or conceals. Often listed as a set of two obscurations (sgrib gnyis): the afflictive emotional obscurations (Skt. kleśāvaraṇa, Tib. nyon mongs pa'i sgrib pa) and the cognitive obscurations (Skt. jñeyāvaraṇa, Tib. shes bya'i sgrib pa). By removing the first, one becomes free of suffering, and by removing the second, one becomes omniscient.

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

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.

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.