Mipham Gyatso Rinpoche's 'Makeover' of Hwashang Moheyan

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Mipham Gyatso Rinpoche's 'Makeover' of Hwashang Moheyan

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Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

The name 'Hwashang' has not always been equated with nihilistic wrong view in Tibetan Buddhism. The way Tibetan scholars and masters have taken Hwashang up into their historical narratives and philosophical systems after Hwashang's lineage was destroyed corresponds to the over- all philosophical and the corresponding historical stance these masters offered to their audiences whereby responding to their polemical and historical context. In the early days, before the formation of a functionally orthodox (Gelukpa) position on 'Hwashang' as a nihilistic wrong view which holds that one should abandon all thoughts, the Nyingma masters Nub Sangye Yeshe (gNubs Sangs rgyas Ye shes, 8-9th century) and Longchen Rabjam (kLong chen Rab byams, 1308– 1364) dis- played appreciation of ‘the master Hwashang’ whose teachings on non-conceptuality as a means to attain enlightenment resonated with theirs. However, those whose systems rejected such practice of non-conceptuality, such as Sakya Paṇḍita (Sa skya Pan di ta Kun dga'i rGyal mtshan, 1182–1251) and Tsongkhapa (rJe Tsong kha pa, 1357–1419), depicted 'Hwashang' negatively and rejected his teachings altogether, thereby using the historical narratives which after the ‘dark age’ had been altered to become pro-Indian. With the ascendency of the orthodox position on Hwashang, Jigme Lingpa ('Jigs med gLing pa, 1730-1798) alternatively displayed respect for 'the master Hwashang', but rejected the teachings he was said to have propounded. Mipham ('Jam mgon 'Ju Mi pham rGya mtsho, 1846–1912) thereafter typically finds common ground between the negative orthodox presentation and the older more positive Nyingma presentations. While Pettit claims Mipham uses a caricature of the "Hashang system" and Phuntsho hypothesizes that Mipham interpreted Hwashang, this thesis will show how he moreover creates a new Hwashang — a 'Hwashang makeover' — by appearing to take on the Gelukpa's presentation of Hwashang's system by describing it as nihilistic, while allowing for the importance of non-conceptuality on the path as the Nyingmapa's propounded.

Citation

Jitta, Yanneke J. "Mipham Gyatso Rinpoche's 'Makeover' of Hwashang Moheyan." MA thesis, Rangjung Yeshe Institute / Kathmandu University, 2015.

Table of contents

• Abstract3
• 1. Introduction4
  • 1. Identity Formation around 'Hwashang'6
  • 2. Usage of the Hwashang Symbol10
  • 3. Modern vs. Traditional Scholarship14
  • 4. Methodology16
  • 5. Chapter Outline19
• 2. Origins of the Samye Debate Narrative23
  • 1. The Tibetan Narrative of the Samye Debate23
  • 2. Kamalaśīla’s Stages of Meditation26
  • 3. Dunhuang sources27
  • 4. The Testament of Ba29
  • 5. Conclusion32
• 3. Hwashang in Tibet before Mipham34
  • 1. Tibetan Ch'an36
  • 2. Nubchen (8-9th century)39
  • 3. Sakya Paṇḍita (1182–1251)44
  • 4. Longchenpa (1308–1364)46
  • 5. Je Tsongkhapa (1357-1419)48
  • 6. Jigme Lingpa (1730-1798)50
  • 7. Conclusion54
• 4. Mipham on Hwashang57
  • 1. Mipham's Life (1846–1912) and Style58
  • 2. The Role of Reasoning in Mipham's Work65
  • 3. Mipham's Beacon of Certainty70
  • 4. Mipham Commentary on Śāntarakṣita’s Ornament of the Middle Way73
  • 5. Mipham's Influence on the Nyingma Identity77
  • 6. Mipham’s Unique Stance on Hwashang80
  • 7. Conclusion82
• 5. Conclusion85
• Bibliography90

Interconnections

Works related to this item

Geluk - The Geluk tradition traces its origin to Tsongkhapa, who propagated a modified version of the Kadampa lojong and lamrim teachings. It is the dominant tradition of Tibet, having established its control of the government under the figure of the Dalai Lama. Tib དགེ་ལུགས་  

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Nyingma - The Nyingma, which is often described as the oldest tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, traces its origin to Padmasambhava, who is said to have visited Tibet in the eighth century. Tib རྙིང་མ་  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Nyingma'

Sakya - 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. Tib ས་སྐྱ་  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Sakya'

Nyingma - The Nyingma, which is often described as the oldest tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, traces its origin to Padmasambhava, who is said to have visited Tibet in the eighth century. Tib རྙིང་མ་  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Nyingmapa'

Madhyamaka - 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. Skt मध्यमक  Tib དབུ་མ་  Ch 中觀見  

Go to the page with the definition of 'Middle Way'