The Middle Way of the Bodhisattva

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Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:

Śāntideva is commonly associated with a particular interpretation of the Middle Way philosophy in Tibet, the Prāsaṅgika-Madhyamaka or "Consequence School of the Middle Way." Why might this be the case? Śāntideva's Guide (Bodhicaryāvatāra) clearly does not address a difference between the two types of argument, reductios and independent probative arguments, that form the etymological basis of what distinguishes a Prāsaṅgika ("one who uses consequences") from a Svātantrika ("one who uses independent probative arguments"). So why is Śāntideva's composition considered by Tibetans to be a Prāsaṅgika text?
An answer can be found in how one influential Tibetan author, Künzang Sönam (1823-1905), explains the issue in his nearly 1,000-page commentary on the Guide. In short, he says that "the basis of the debate between Svātantrika and Prāsaṅgika is whether or not there is something that exists on its own" (rang mtshan kyis grub pa).[1] This chapter discusses the role and implications of "existing on its own" as the main principle guiding Künzang Sönam's interpretation of Śāntideva's Guide. For him, this particular feature of the Middle Way conveys the thoroughgoing interdependence that is essential for reaching a proper understanding of Śāntideva's text. In particular, he holds that it is through this interpretation of the Middle Way that Śāntideva maintains a view of emptiness that is compatible with an altruistic ethic. (Duckworth, preliminary remarks, 180)

Notes

Künzang Sönam, Overview of the Wisdom Chapter, 788; English trans, in The Profound Reality of Interdependence, 211. For further discussion of this topic, see Duckworth, Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy of Mind and Nature, 84-86.

Citation

Duckworth, Douglas S. "The Middle Way of the Bodhisattva." In Readings of Śāntideva's Guide to Bodhisattva Practice, edited by Jonathan C. Gold and Douglas S. Duckworth, 180–91. New York: Columbia University Press, 2019.

Chapter or part of

Readings of Śāntideva's Guide to Bodhisattva Practice

This book serves as a companion to the Bodhicaryāvatāra. The fifteen essays contained here illuminate the Guide's many philosophical, literary, ritual, and ethical dimensions.

Book

Scholarship on

Bodhicaryāvatāra

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.

Text

Spyod 'jug shes rab le'u'i spyi don rim par phye ba zab mo rten 'byung gi de kho na nyid yang gsal sgron me

This is a commentary on the ninth chapter of the BCA, beginning with a general introduction (spyi don). It contains a detailed historical background of the Middle Way view and the masters associated with it. Then the author explains the chapter in detail, based on a textual outline (sa bcad) and with general introductions to specific topics within the chapter.

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