Rinchen, Sonam

Rinchen, Sonam on the DRL

Geshes • Ordained (Monks and Nuns) • Tibetan Buddhist Teachers

དགེ་གཤེས་བསོད་ནམས་རིན་ཆེན་

Wylie	dge gshes bsod nams rin chen
English Phonetics	Geshe Sonam Rinchen

Dates

Birth:	1933
Death:	2013

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

Dates of passing

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

About

Other Biographical info:

Links

Wiki Pages

• Rinchen, Sonam on the DRL
• Rinchen, Sonam on the LIB
• Rinchen, Sonam on the BNW

Buddha Nature Project

Person description or short bio

Geshe Sonam Rinchen (1933–2013) was born in Trehor region of Kham in Eastern Tibet in 1933. He died in Dharamshala, India, 5 October 2013.

In 1945, he joined Dhargyey Monastery, and entered the monastic university of Sera in Lhasa in 1952, where he studied until he was forced to flee Tibet in 1959.

In India he completed his studies for the degree of Geshe Lharampa which he received in 1980. He also received the degree of Acarya from the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in Sarnath. He was appointed resident teacher at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamshala, India in 1978, where he taught Buddhist philosophy and practice, mainly to westerners. He has also taught in Japan, Australia, Great Britain, South Korea, Ireland, New Zealand and Switzerland. (Source Accessed Aug 6, 2020)

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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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.