Illuminating the Intent

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Illuminating the Intent
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Description

This work is perhaps the most influential explanation of Candrakirti’s seventh-century classic Entering the Middle Way (Madhyamakavatara).

Written as a supplement to Nagarjuna’s Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way, Candrakirti’s text integrates the central insight of Nagarjuna’s thought—the rejection of any metaphysical notion of intrinsic existence—with the well-known Mahayana framework of the ten levels of the bodhisattva, and it became the most studied presentation of Madhyamaka thought in Tibet.

Completed the year before the author’s death, Tsongkhapa’s exposition of Candrakirti’s text is recognized by the Tibetan tradition as the final standpoint of Tsongkhapa on many philosophical questions, particularly the clear distinctions it draws between the standpoints of the Madhyamaka and Cittamatra schools.

Written in exemplary Tibetan, Tsongkhapa’s work presents a wonderful marriage of rigorous Madhyamaka philosophical analysis with a detailed and subtle account of the progressively advancing mental states and spiritual maturity realized by sincere Madhyamaka practitioners.

The work remains the principal textbook for the study of Indian Madhyamaka philosophy in many Tibetan monastic colleges, and it is a principal source for many Tibetan teachers seeking to convey the intricacies of Madhyamaka philosophy to non-Tibetan audiences.

Though it is often cited and well known, this is the first full translation of this key work in a Western language. (Source: Wisdom Publications)

Citation
Jinpa, Thupten, trans. Illuminating the Intent: An Exposition of Candrakīrti's Entering the Middle Way. By Tsongkhapa. Library of Tibetan Classics 19. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2021.
Publisher Link
Texts Translated

Tsongkhapa (tsong kha pa blo bzang grags pa). dbu ma la 'jug pa'i rgya cher bshad pa dgongs pa rab gsal. Commentary on Candrakīrti's Madhyamakāvatāra. bod kyi gtsug lag gces btus 19. bod kyi gtsug lag zhib dpyod khang nas dpar du bskrun. Edited by Thupten Jinpa. New Delhi: Institute of Tibetan Classics, 2010. Download the Tibetan Classics PDF Here.

Also found in gsung 'bum/_tsong kha pa (zhol). TBRC W635. 16: 9 - 542. New Delhi, India: Mongolian lama guru deva, 1978-1979. https://www.tbrc.org/#library_work_ViewByOutline-O2CZ72094CZ101273%7CW635


Translation of

 
Dbu ma la 'jug pa'i rnam bshad dgongs pa rab gsal
This work is perhaps the most influential explanation of Candrakīrti's seventh-century classic Entering the Middle Way (Madhyamakāvatāra).

Written as a supplement to Nagarjuna’s Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way, Candrakīrti’s text integrates the central insight of Nagarjuna’s thought—the rejection of any metaphysical notion of intrinsic existence—with the well-known Mahayana framework of the ten levels of the bodhisattva, and it became the most studied presentation of Madhyamaka thought in Tibet.

Completed the year before the author’s death, Tsongkhapa’s exposition of Candrakīrti's text is recognized by the Tibetan tradition as the final standpoint of Tsongkhapa on many philosophical questions, particularly the clear distinctions it draws between the standpoints of the Madhyamaka and Cittamatra schools.

Written in exemplary Tibetan, Tsongkhapa’s work presents a wonderful marriage of rigorous Madhyamaka philosophical analysis with a detailed and subtle account of the progressively advancing mental states and spiritual maturity realized by sincere Madhyamaka practitioners. (Source: Thupten Jinpa, Illuminating the Intent, 2021)
Text

  • Contents
  • Prefacexiii
  • Introduction1
  • Technical Note27
Illuminating the Intent: An Exposition of Entering the Middle Way
  • 1. Preliminaries31


  • Part I. The First Five Grounds
    2. General Presentation of the Grounds59
    3. The First Ground, Perfect Joy69
    4. The Second Ground, The Stainless117
    5. The Third Ground, The Luminous129
    6. The Fourth Ground, The Radiant147
    7. The Fifth Ground, Hard to Conquer151


  • Part II. The Sixth Ground, The Manifest
    8. Introducing the Sixth Ground157
    9. Identifying the Object of Negation171
    10. Refuting Arising from Self and Other191
    11. The Two Truths221
    12. The Merits of Negation259
    13. Refuting the Cittamātra Standpoint301
    14. Refuting the Proof of Intrinsic Existence of Dependent Nature337
    15. How to Read the Sutras369
    16. Refuting Arising from Both and from No Cause395
    17. The Selflessness of Persons419
    18. Extending the Analysis471
    19. Enumerations of Emptiness485


  • Part III. The Final Grounds
    20. The Seventh Ground, Gone Afar515
    21. The Eighth Ground, The Immovable517
    22. The Ninth Ground, Perfect Intellect523
    23. The Tenth Ground, Cloud of Dharma525
    24. Qualities of the Ten Grounds527
    25. The Resultant Ground531


  • Appendix 1. A Complete Outline of the Text569
  • Appendix 2. Table of Tibetan Transliteration593
  • Notes595
  • Glossary653
  • Bibliography665
  • Index679
  • About the Translator697