On Śāntideva's Position in the History of Mādhyamika Philosophy

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On Śāntideva's Position in the History of Mādhyamika Philosophy
Journal Article
Influence and Reception of Śāntideva's Works in India and Beyond


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Description

The article surveys five main scholarly positions on how Śāntideva should be situated within Mādhyamika, focusing on debates around: whether an "external world" (gākatā) exists in his thought; how he relates to Yogācāra; his treatment of the eighth and ninth chapters of the Bodhicaryāvatāra on meditation and wisdom; and his relationship to Candrakīrti and Kamalaśīla. Saito notes that Śāntideva is one of the few late Mādhyamika thinkers who made a major practical contribution to the tradition, living roughly contemporaneously with Śāntarakṣita and Kamalaśīla, and that his position within the Mādhyamika lineage remains somewhat unstable and contested among scholars.
Citation
Saito, Akira. "On Śāntideva's Position in the History of Mādhyamika Philosophy." Shūkyō Kenkyū (Journal of Religious Studies) 69, no. 4 (1996): 173–75.
Interconnections
1 Scholarship on
Classical WorksAbout this item
An "Introduction to Bodhisattva Practice," the Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra is a poem about the path of a bodhisattva, in ten chapters, written by the Indian Buddhist Śāntideva (fl. c. 685–763). One of the masterpieces of world literature, it is a core text of Mahāyāna Buddhism and continues to be taught, studied, and commented upon in many languages and by many traditions around the world. The main subject of the text is bodhicitta, the altruistic aspiration for enlightenment, and the path and practices of the bodhisattva, the six perfections (pāramitās). The text forms the basis of many contemporary discussions of Buddhist ethics and philosophy.
1 Related
Articles1996About this item
Akira Saito discusses Śāntideva's position in the history of Mādhyamika philosophy in the light of recent studies on the Bodhi(sattva)caryāvatāra, especially on its earlier version.