Tsong kha pa

Tsong kha pa on the DRL

Classical Tibetan Authors

ཙོང་ཁ་པ་

Wylie	tsong kha pa
English Phonetics	Tsongkhapa

Line Drawing by Robert Beer Courtesy of The Robert Beer Online Galleries

 

Tsongkhapa Himalayan Art Resources

Other names

• ཙོང་ཁ་པ་བློ་བཟང་གྲགས་པ་
• བློ་བཟང་གྲགས་པའི་དཔལ་
• བློ་བཟང་གྲགས་པ་

• tsong kha pa blo bzang grags pa
• blo bzang grags pa'i dpal
• blo bzang grags pa

Dates

Birth:	1357
Death:	1419
Place of birth:	tsong kha (Amdo)

Tibetan calendar dates

Dates of birth

Day
Month
Gender	Female
Element	Fire
Animal	Bird
Rab Jyung	6

Dates of passing

Day
Month
Gender	Female
Element	Earth
Animal	Pig
Rab Jyung	7

About

Religious Affiliation

Geluk

Primary Professional Affiliation

Ganden Monastery

Teachers

bsod nams rgyal mtshan · Red mda' ba gzhon nu blo gros · Nya dbon kun dga' dpal · Phyogs las rnam rgyal · sgra tshad pa rin chen rnam rgyal · Karmapa, 4th

Students

'dul 'dzin grags pa rgyal mtshan · 'gos lo tsA ba gzhon nu dpal · 'jam dbyangs chos rje bkra shis dpal ldan · mkhas grub rje · Rgyal tshab rje dar ma rin chen · spyan nga bsod nams bzang po

Other Biographical info:

• Assumes office 1409 dga' ldan dgon (stag rtse rdzong)

• Leaves office 1419 dga' ldan dgon (stag rtse rdzong)

• Founds monastery 1409 dga' ldan dgon (stag rtse rdzong)

• Final Ordination 1381 yar klung rnam rgyal dgon

Links

BDRC Link

https://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=P64

Treasury of Lives Link

http://www.treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Tsongkhapa-Lobzang-Drakpa/8986

Treasury of Lives Excerpt

Tsongkhapa Lobzang Drakpa was one of the most influential Tibetan Buddhist scholars of the last millennium. Born in Amdo, he travelled to U-Tsang in his youth, never to return to his homeland. In U-Tsang he studied with numerous teachers of all traditions and engaged in many retreats resulting in his development of a fresh interpretation of Nāgārjuna's Madhyamaka view and a reinvigoration of the monastic Vinaya. Widely regarded as an emanation of Mañjuśrī, Tsongkhapa composed eighteen volumes of works of which the majority dealt with tantric subjects. He was the founder of Ganden Monastery, which became the central monastery of the Geluk tradition that was founded on his teachings and writings.

Himalayan Art Resources Link or Other Art Resource

https://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=197

Wiki Pages

• Tsong kha pa on the DRL
• Tsong kha pa on the LIB
• Tsong kha pa on the DNZ
• Tsong kha pa on the BNW

Buddha Nature Project

Person description or short bio

Tsongkhapa Lobzang Drakpa was one of the most influential Tibetan Buddhist scholars of the last millennium. Born in Amdo, he travelled to U-Tsang in his youth, never to return to his homeland. In U-Tsang he studied with numerous teachers of all traditions and engaged in many retreats resulting in his development of a fresh interpretation of Nāgārjuna's Madhyamaka view and a reinvigoration of the monastic Vinaya. Widely regarded as an emanation of Mañjuśrī, Tsongkhapa composed eighteen volumes of works of which the majority dealt with tantric subjects. He was the founder of Ganden Monastery, which became the central monastery of the Geluk tradition that was founded on his teachings and writings.

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

Is Buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional?
Position:
Notes:
All beings have Buddha-nature
Position:
If "Qualified", explain:
Notes:
Which Wheel Turning
Position:	Second Turning
Notes:	Wangchuk quotes mkhas grub rje as stating, "In our system, Jé Rinpoché (rje rin po che, that is, Tsongkhapa) mentions that the Uttaratantra primarily comments on the meaning of those sutras that are in conformity with the middle-wheel teachings, such as the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra, Samādhirājasūtra, Jnānālokasūtra, Aṅgulimālāsūtra, Śrīmālādevīsūtra, and so forth." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 89.
Yogācāra vs Madhyamaka
Position:	Madhyamaka
Notes:	Note that Wangchuk maintains that he developed this certainty later in his career. He quotes his Golden Rosary of Excellent Exposition as stating that the Mind-Only presentation of buddha-nature as, "the viewpoint explicated in the Uttaratantra." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 90. Though he later quotes his presumably final stance as: "In his Illuminating the Thoughts of the Madhyamaka, Tsongkhapa clearly states, "The great master Asaṅga also did not explain the Uttaratantra according to the Cittamātra School, rather he explicated it according to the Madhyamaka School." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 93.
Zhentong vs Rangtong
Position:	Rangtong
Notes:
Promotes how many vehicles?
Position:
Notes:
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:
Svātantrika (རང་རྒྱུད་) vs Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་པ་)
Position:	Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་)
Notes:	Wangchuk cites Tsongkhapa's students and commentators on this issue: He quotes mkhas grub rje as stating, "In our system, Jé Rinpoché (rje rin po che that is, Tsongkhapa) mentions that... The content of the Uttaratantra is in conformity with Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 89. And later on,, "Similarly, Chöwang Drakpé Pel states, "The All-knowing Jétsün (rje btsun, that is, Tsongkhapa) repeatedly made the roar of a lion amongst an assembly of scholars proclaiming that the ultimate view of the Abhisamayālamkāra and the Uttaratantra falls within the system of Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 89.
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.

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.

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).

Though it is sometimes used synonymously with Yogācāra, it is in fact one of the more prominent philosophical theories associated with this school. It asserts that the objects in the external world with which we interact are actually mentally created representations appearing as those objects. The character of these perceptions is predetermined by our own karmic conditioning that is stored in the ālayavijñāna.

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.