Jose Ignacio Cabezon - Freedom from Extremes: Gorampas Distinguishing the Views and the Polemics of Emptiness

FREEDOM FROM EXTREMES

Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism

THIS SERIES WAS CONCEIVED to provide a forum for publishing outstanding new contributions to scholarship on Indian and Tibetan Buddhism and also to make accessible seminal research not widely known outside a narrow specialist audience, including translations of appropriate monographs and collections of articles from other languages. The series strives to shed light on the Indic Buddhist traditions by exposing them to historical-critical inquiry, illuminating through contextualization and analysis these traditions unique heritage and the significance of their contribution to the worlds religious and philosophical achievements.

Members of the Editorial Board:

Tom Tillemans (chair), University of Lausanne

Jos Cabezn, University of California, Santa Barbara

Georges Dreyfus, Williams College, Massachusetts

Janet Gyatso, Harvard University

Paul Harrison

Toni Huber, Humboldt University, Berlin

Shoryu Katsura, Ryukoku University, Kyoto

Thupten Jinpa Langri, Institute of Tibetan Classics, Montreal

Frank Reynolds, Emeritus, University of Chicago

E. Gene Smith, Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center, New York

Cristina Scherrer-Schaub, University of Lausanne

Ernst Steinkellner, University of Vienna

Leonard van der Kuijp, Harvard University

Wisdom Publications, Inc.

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2007 Jos I. Cabezn

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Go-rams-pa Bsod-nams-sen-ge, 14291489.

[Lta bai san 'byed theg mchog gnad kyi zla zer. English]

Freedom from extremes : Gorampas Distinguishing the views and the polemics of emptiness / Jos Ignacio Cabezn and Geshe Lobsang Dargyay.

p. cm. (Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism)

English translation with parallel romanized Tibetan text.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-86171-523-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)

ISBN 978-0-86171-857-3 (ebook)

1. Madhyamika (Buddhism)Early works to 1800. 2. Sa-skya-pa (Sect)DoctrinesEarly works to 1800. I. Cabezn, Jos Ignacio, 1956II. Lobsang Dargyay. III. Go-rams-pa Bsod-nams-sen-ge, 14291489. Lta bai san byed theg mchog gnad kyi zla zer. IV. Title.

BQ7454.G59713 2006

294.3420423dc22

2006036944

ISBN 0-86171-523-3

11 10 09 08 07

5 4 3 2 1

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Contents

I N THE EARLY 1980s, I lived and studied at Sera Monastery in India while I was preparing my translation of Khedrub Js (Mkhas grub rje) classic of Middle Way (Madhyamaka) philosophy, the Stong thun chen mo. One of the great challenges I faced in my research involved identifying Khedrub Js unnamed opponents. This led me to read more broadly in the field of Tibetan Madhyamaka, and this, in turn, eventually led me to the work of the great Sakya scholar Gorampa Snam Seng (Go rams pa Bsod nams seng ge, 142989). In the course of reading Gorampas writings, I came upon his Distinguishing the Views (Lta bai shan byed), the work translated in these pages. It immediately became clear to me why the text was considered by many scholars, both classical and contemporary, to be a work of tremendous power and, among other things, to be one of the most important critiques of Tsongkhapas Madhyamaka views. Concise, clear, elegant in style, and powerful in its argumentation, Distinguishing the Views is one of Gorampas most famous works. I had not yet finished reading the text when I decided to translate it. By the early 1990s I had a draft in hand.

I was not then aware that Geshe Lobsang Dargyay (Dge bshes Blo bzang dar rgyas), working in Hamburg, had already completed his own draft translation of Gorampas text several years earlier. From 1994 to 1995, I had the good fortune to be a visiting research scholar at the Institut fr Kultur und Geschichte Indiens und Tibets at the University of Hamburg. I first learned of Geshe Dargyays work from my colleague in Hamburg, Prof. David Jackson. While in Hamburg, Prof. Lambert Schmithausen urged me to contact Geshe Dargyay about possibly collaborating on the translation, a suggestion that I welcomed. I soon learned, much to my regret, that Geshe-la had passed away just a short time earlier, a great loss to the field, and particularly sad news for me since I never had the opportunity to meet this fine scholar. My query, however, was answered by Prof. Eva Neumaier, the executor of Geshe Dargyays estate, who was enthusiastic about my proposal to combine our workmine and Geshe Dargyaysto publish a translation of Gorampas text under both our names. Over the many years since I first got her approval to proceed with this joint venture, Prof. Neumaier has been a model of supportiveness and patience. I also wish to thank her for contributing the brief life story of Geshe Dargyay found in these pages.

The work that you have before you is truly collaborative. While it fell on me to make the final decisions about the manuscript, I consulted Geshe Dargyays text at every turn. In several instances, Geshe-las translation allowed me to correct my own, and I consider myself fortunate to have had his text as a conversation partner and sounding board. Geshe Dargyay, in turn, had earlier benefited from the comments and guidance of Prof. Schmithausen. Prof. Schmithausen should therefore be seen not only as the impetus behind this cooperative undertaking but also as a contributor. However, the final responsibility for decisions fell upon me. Therefore, as the last (if not the only) scholar to work on this translation, I take responsibility for any faults and shortcomings.

Geshe Dargyay wished to thank the following individuals and institutions, the acknowledgement of which I take verbatim from his manuscript. My deepest gratitude is due to Prof. Dr. L. Schmithausen for his readiness to take responsibility vis--vis the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), for checking and correcting my translation item by item, and for his many suggestions. Words of thanks to Prof. Dr. Eva Dargyay, too, are inadequate for her unfailing support of this work. I also wish to thank Prof. Dr. Leslie Kawamura for his support. Among institutions, thanks are due to the DFG, to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and also to the Calgary Institute for the Humanities. My gratitude also goes out to Mrs. Gerry Dyer for typing the first draft of the translation, and is also extended to my students who contributed to this project: Susan Hutchison, Kay Wong, Windsor Viney, and especially Donald Hamilton for his patience and readiness to spend many hours correcting my English and proofreading the text. Without their support, this work would never have been completed.