Four tenet systems
Four Tenet Systems - In the Indian Mahayana Buddhist monasteries, such as Nalanda, monks studied four systems of Buddhist tenets. These systems are:
The Tibetans have followed this custom, but have made further subdivisions within these four systems. For example, within Madhyamaka, they have differentiated Svatantrika Madhyamaka from Prasangika Madhyamaka. Within Svatantrika Madhyamaka, the Gelug school has further classified Indian authors as Yogachara Svatantrika or Sautrantika Svatantrika. The various non-Gelug schools have subdivided Madhyamaka in yet other ways.
Major Authors and Texts
Vaibhashika
- Vasubandhu (400-480)
Sautrantika
- Dignaga (circa 6th century)
- Dharmakirti (7th Century)
- Seven Treatises on Valid Cognition - a detailed commentary on the work of Dignaga
Chittamatra (or Yogacharya)
Madhyamaka
- Nagarjuna (circa 150-250)
Two Divisions of Madhyamaka
Svatantrika-Madhyamaka is studied in general in the context of far-reaching discriminating awareness (phar-phyin, Skt. prajnaparamita, perfection of wisdom), as formulated by Maitreya.
Prasangika-Madhyamaka is studied primarily through the works of Chandrakirti (Zla-ba grags-pa), Aryadeva (‘Phags-pa lha), Shantideva (Zhi-ba lha), and Buddhapalita (Sang-rgyas bskyangs).
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- Madhyamakavatara - A supplement to Nagarjuna’s “Root Verses on the Middle Way”
- Prasannapada – A detailed commentary on Nagarjuna’s Mulamadhyamaka-karika
- Mulamadhyamaka-vrtti - a commentary to (Nagarjuna’s) “Root Stanzas on the Middle Way, Called Discriminating Awareness” (rTsa-ba shes-rab-gyi ‘grel-ba)
Other proponents of this tenet system are:
- Patsap Nyima Drak (1055-1145) – translated Chandrakirti into Tibetan
- Tsongkhapa (1357-1419) – wrote a commentary on the Madhyamaka-avatara
The Two Divisions of Svatantrika-Madhyamaka
Yogachara-Svatantrika is studied through the works of Shantarakshita and his disciples Kamalashila and Haribhadra.
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- Stages of Meditation
- Illumination for the Middle Way (dBu-ma snang-ba, Skt. Madhyamaka-aloka)
- Sphutartha - a commentary to Maitreya’s “Ornament of Realizations”
Other proponents of this tenet system are:
- Ngok Loden Sherab (1059-1109)
- Chapa Chökyi Sengé (1109-1169) – composed the first Tibetan summary of of Dharmakirti’s thought.
- Dharmapala
- Mipham Rinpoche
- Words to Delight My Teacher Manjughosha - a commentary on Shantarakshita’s Madhyamakalankara
Sautrantika-Svatantrika
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- Madhyamaka-hrdaya
- Tarkajvala (rTog-ge ‘bar-ba), Blaze of Reasoning; an autocommentary on Madhyamaka-hrdaya