ShAkya mchog ldan

ShAkya mchog ldan on the DRL

Classical Tibetan Authors

ཤཱཀྱ་མཆོག་ལྡན་

Wylie	shAkya mchog ldan
English Phonetics	Śākya Chokden
Sort Name	Shākya Chokden

Himalayan Art Resources

Dates

Birth:	1428
Death:	1507
Place of birth:	gsang mda' bang rim

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

Day
Month
Gender	Male
Element	Earth
Animal	Monkey
Rab Jyung	7

Dates of passing

Day
Month
Gender
Element
Animal
Rab Jyung

About

Religious Affiliation

Sakya

Primary Professional Affiliation

Sangpu Neutok

Teachers

rong ston shes bya kun rig · don yod dpal ba · Ngor mkhan chen, 1st · spyang lung chos sdings gzhon nu blo gros

Other Biographical info:

Links

BDRC Link

https://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=P396

Treasury of Lives Link

https://treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/%C5%9A%C4%81kya-Chokden/6351

Wiki Pages

• ShAkya mchog ldan on the DRL
• ShAkya mchog ldan 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:	Though his unique presentation allows for both definitive and provisional versions of buddha-nature. The distinction between the two depends on whether there is direct experience of the unstained buddha-nature and its corresponding qualities, or, alternatively whether this nature is latently present in an obscured form.
All beings have Buddha-nature
Position:	Qualified No
If "Qualified", explain:	All beings possess a "nominal" buddha-nature as is taught in the second-wheel teachings, while only bodhisattvas on the first bhumi and up (i.e. Noble Bodhisattvas) possess the "actual" buddha-nature as it was taught in the third-wheel teachings. (see note from Brunnhölzl below)
Notes:	#"Though everyone including ordinary beings possesses wisdom in a nonmanifest manner, only bodhisattvas on the first bhūmi onward manifest this wisdom as the direct realization of ultimate reality. This means that only such bodhisattvas possess the actual tathāgata heart in that they see at least certain degrees of purification of the stains that cover the tathāgata heart as well as its inseparability from certain degrees of buddha qualities. Ordinary beings thus do not possess this actual tathāgata heart at all, while buddhas possess it in its completeness. In other words, the close connection between seeing the tathāgata heart free from adventitious stains and possessing it, as well as between becoming free from adventitious stains and “attaining” the qualities of a buddha, is a prominent feature of Śākya Chogden’s interpretation of tathāgatagarbha." Brunnhölzl, K., When the Clouds Part, p. 78. See also Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 114.
Which Wheel Turning
Position:	Third Turning
Notes:	He distinguishes between different types of buddha-nature taught in the second and third wheels, though the third is the more definitive and represents the "actual" tathāgatagarbha.
Yogācāra vs Madhyamaka
Position:	Madhyamaka
Notes:
Zhentong vs Rangtong
Position:
Notes:
Promotes how many vehicles?
Position:
Notes:
Analytic vs Meditative Tradition
Position:
Notes:
What is Buddha-nature?
Position:	There are several types of Tathāgatagarbha
Notes:	#"In sum, Śākya Chogden distinguishes three kinds of tathāgata hearts: (1) the nominal tathāgata heart that is the mere natural purity (as taught in the second dharma wheel and its Madhyamaka commentaries), (2) the actual tathāgata heart that is the purity of adventitious stains and represents the relative tathāgata heart (as taught in the third dharma wheel and the Nonaspectarian system of Maitreya and Asaṅga, as well as in the teachings of expedient meaning in the second dharma wheel as these are interpreted by the third dharma wheel), and (3) the actual tathāgata heart that is the natural purity that is inseparable from all buddha qualities and represents the ultimate tathāgata heart (as taught in the system of Maitreya and Asaṅga and in the third dharma wheel)." Brunnhölzl, K., When the Clouds Part, p. 78. See also Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 115.
Svātantrika (རང་རྒྱུད་) vs Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་པ་)
Position:
Notes:
Causal nature of the vajrapāda
Position:

The Sakya tradition developed in the eleventh century in the Khön family of Tsang, which maintained an imperial-era lineage of Vajrakīla and which adopted a new teaching from India known as Lamdre.

Sangpu Neutok is an important monastery in central Tibet, just south of Lhasa, that was founded in 1072 by Ngok Lekpai Sherab, a disciple of Atiśa, and developed by his nephew, Ngok Lotsāwa Loden Sherab. Originally a Kadam monastery with two colleges, it evolved into a monastery that includes both Sakya and Geluk traditions. At its peak in the 11th to 14th centuries, it was one of the most highly esteemed centers for monastic education and the study of Buddhist philosophy in all of the Tibetan plateau. Many influential philosophers of the time studied there.

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

A plateau of spiritual development.

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

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.

Buddha-nature, literally the "womb/essence of those who have gone (to suchness)."

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.

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