This commentary presents Mipham's explanation of Śāntideva's text implicitly questioning the dominant Geluk interpretation. Mipham's commentary sparked intense debate and opposition from Geluk scholars and even some from his own Nyingma school. The disagreements were significant enough to prompt epistolary debates through a series of written refutations composed by prominent Geluk scholars. These disputes centered around differing interpretations of key Mādhyamika concepts and their implications for Buddhist practice and realization. Mipham's work represented a reassertion of the older school's understanding of Madhyamaka, which had been largely overshadowed by the Geluk interpretation propagated by Tsongkhapa and his followers. The controversy surrounding the Ketaka reflects the broader doctrinal tensions between the Geluk school's philosophical positions and those of the earlier Tibetan Buddhist traditions.
The Ketaka[1] Gem (Tib. ནོར་བུ་ཀེ་ཏ་ཀ་, Norbu Ketaka, Wyl. nor bu ke ta ka) — a commentary on the ninth chapter of the Bodhicharyavatara written by Mipham Rinpoche, based on the teachings of Patrul Rinpoche. It was composed in 1878, when Mipham Rinpoche was 32.
Lhobpon Rechunpa said:
- From the emanation of Lokeshvara, Dza Paltrul Rinpoche, [Mipham Rinpoche] received the Wisdom Chapter of the Bodhicharyavatara in only five days. Based on this, he wrote the commentary on the Wisdom Chapter known as the She Drel Keta Ka.[2]
Mipham Rinpoche himself said:
- When I was young, I was present when many accomplished, learned lamas gave Dharma teachings, but I only seriously studied Dza Patrul Rinpoche’s teachings on the Wisdom Chapter of the Bodhicharyavatara. Later, in dependence on the kindness of my venerable lama and Manjushri, no difficulties with study ever arose for me.
In the ninth chapter of Nectar of Manjushri's Speech, Khenpo Kunpal's commentary on the whole Bodhicharyavatara, Khenpo Kunpal closely followed (almost verbatim) Mipham Rinpoche's Norbu Ketaka.[3]
The commentary provoked several refutations from Gelugpa scholars, especially Pariwa Lobzang Rabsal and Drakkar Lobzang Palden Tendzin Nyendrak. Mipham Rinpoche wrote two lengthy responses to their objections: Clear Logic Illuminating Reality (rigs lam rab gsal de nyid snang byed) in response to Pariwa Lobzang Rabsal, and Response to Objections: The Light of the Sun (rgal lan nyin byed snang ba) to Drakkar Lobzang Palden Tendzin Nyendrak. (Source Accessed Jan 3, 2022)
Notes
- Ketaka is a gemstone that is said to be able to purify dirty water.
- Biography of Jamgon Ju Mipham Rinpoche Namgyal Gyatso by Lhobpon Rechungpa and Eric Forgeng (see rangjung.com)
- See Nectar of Manjushri's Speech, Padmakara Translations, Nov 2007, page 250.
| Reference | Mi pham rgya mtsho (མི་ཕམ་རྒྱ་མཚོ་). shes rab le'u'i tshig don go sla bar rnam par bshad pa nor bu ke ta ka [ཤེས་རབ་ལེའུའི་ཚིག་དོན་གོ་སླ་བར་རྣམ་པར་བཤད་པ་ནོར་བུ་ཀེ་ཏ་ཀ།]. [The Ketaka Jewel: An Easy to Understand Explanation of the Words and Meaning of the Wisdom Chapter]. |
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| People | Mipam Gyatso |
