 IBA - November 15, 2009
Gzhan-stong Madhyamaka became a highly controversial topic of debate in the history of Tibetan Buddhism. This debate centered around the question of whether or not the nature of mind was ultimately empty of itself (rang stong), and therefore of all qualities related to the path and fruit, or merely of the adventitious defilements alien to the mind's nature (gzhan stong) covering its true potential. In other words, are the Buddha-qualities inherent to the nature of the mind or not? In his talk, Professor Mathes gives an overview of the history of the important developments of this philosophy and explains why it became such an important cause of divide between Tibetan Buddhists, who all claimed to be upholders of the Madhyamaka philosophy of Nāgārjuna. Klaus-Dieter Mathes is Professor for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the Institute for South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies of the University of Vienna/Austria. Download talk... or listen below. |
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