Difference between revisions of "King Trisong Deutsen"

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'''Trisong Deutsen''' ([[khri srong de'u btsan]]). (790-844) The second great Dharma king of Tibet who invited Guru Rinpoche, [[Shantarakshita]], [[Vimalamitra]], and many other Buddhist teachers including [[Jinamitra]] and [[Danashila]]. In ''[[The Precious Garland of Lapis Lazuli]]'', [[Jamgon Kongtrul]] dates Trisong Deutsen as being born on the eighth day of the third month of spring in the year of the Male Water Horse (802). Other sources state that year as his enthronement upon the death of his father. Until the age of seventeen he was chiefly engaged in ruling the kingdom. He built [[Samye]], the great monastery and teaching center modeled after [[Odantapuri]], established Buddhism as the state religion of Tibet, and during his reign the first monks were ordained. He arranged for panditas and lotsawas to translate innumerable sacred texts, and he established a large number of centers for teaching and practice. Among his later incarnations are [[Nyang Ral Nyima Özer]] (1124-1192), [[Guru Chowang]] (1212-1270), [[Jigmey Lingpa]] (1729-1798), and [[Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo]] (1820-1892).
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'''Dharmakirti''' (ca. 7th century), was an Indian scholar and one of the Buddhist founders of Indian philosophical logic. He was one of the primary theorists of [[Buddhist atomism]], according to which the only items considered to exist are momentary Buddhist atoms and states of consciousness.  
  
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In the successive occurrence of kings, it is universally known that [[Tori Nyenshel]], an emanation of bodhisattva [[Samantabhadra]], instigated the sacred Dharma. [[Songtsen Gampo]], [[Avalokiteshvara]] in person, established its tradition. Finally, the great Dharma ruler, King Trisong Deutsen, the emanation body of noble [[Manjushri]], made it spread and flourish. In order that sacred Dharma flourish, this latter Dharma king invited from the Noble Land of India one hundred and eight great panditas such as the great scholar [[Shantarakshita]], [[Vimalamitra]], who possessed the vajra body, and in particular Padmakara, the great vidyadhara of immortality. He let the subjects with devotion be ordained and learn translation. He erected temples, established the sangha and founded the tradition for translating, expounding and practicing the sacred Dharma. Thus his deeds in initially spreading the Buddha’s teachings will never disappear, not even at the end of existence, and the signature and fame of this demonstrate the exaltedness of the patron of the teachings.<br>
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===Philosophy===
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By [[Jamgon Kongtrul the Great]], from ''[[Light of Wisdom, Volume 1]]''
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Dharmakirti presents most of his ideas in the guise of commentary on Dignaga's works, even if his theories go beyond what was presented by his predecessor. Some of his ideas, like his proof for the authority of the Buddha's words, are innovations, for Dignaga considered language just as fallible as inference.
  
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During the reign of King Trisong Deutsen, Buddhism was spread with great zeal after he had invited the Abbot Shantarakshita and Acharya Padmasambhava to Tibet. The task of translating Buddha's teachings was carried out with great vigour and enthusiasm. It is said that altogether one hundred and eight Indian scholars were engaged with Tibetan translators in the work of translating Buddhist literature into Tibetan. They also took part in establishing monasteries.
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There has long been disagreement among Indian and Tibetan doxographers as to how to categorize Dharmakirti's thought. The [[Gelug]] school asserts that he expressed [[Yogachara]] views, most non-Gelug Tibetan commentators assert that he expressed [[Sautrantika]] views and, according to one Tibetan source, a number of renowned later Indian Madhyamikas asserted that he expressed [[Madhyamaka]] views.<ref>“Ngawang Palden in the Sautrantika chapter of his ''Explanation of the Conventional and the Ultimate in the Four Systems of Tenets'' (''Grub mtha’ bzhi’i lugs kyi kun rdzob dang don dam pa’i don rnam par bshad pa legs bshad dpyid kyi dpal mo’i glu dbyangs'', New Delhi: Guru Deva, 1972, 39.5-39.6) says that some such as Prajñakaragupta, Suryagupta, Shantarakshita, Kamalashila, and Jetari interpret Dharmakirti’s ''Commentary on [Dignaga’s] Compendium of Valid Cognition'' (T''shad ma rnam ’grel, Pramanavarttika'') as a Madhyamika treatise." ''Dependent-Arising and Emptiness: A Tibetan Buddhist Interpretation of Madhyamika Philosophy Emphasizing the Compatibility of Emptiness and Conventional Phenomena'' Napper, Elizabeth. Boston: Wisdom Publications. p. 685, note 142</ref>
  
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==Patron Kings: King Trisong Deutsen==
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==Writings==
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King Trisong Deutsen was the 9th century Tibetan emperor who is credited with establishing Buddhism in Tibet. Tibetan Buddhists consider him a manifestation of Manjushri, the bodhisattva who embodies wisdom. In his life, King Trisong Deutsen made monumental contributions to the establishment and propagation of the Buddhadharma in Tibet. Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche tells of His Holiness [[Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche]], "With tears in his eyes, which was rare, he said that if one were to fill every canyon, every gorge, every hole on earth with gold as high as Mount Meru, not even a fraction of the kindness of King Trisong Deutsen could be repaid."
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*The ''Seven Treatises on Valid Cognition'':
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** Saṃbandhaparikṣhāvrtti (Analysis of Relations)
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** Pramāṇaviniścaya (Ascertainment of Valid Cognition)
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** Pramāṇavārttikakārika (Commentary on Dignaga's 'Compendium of Valid Cognition')
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** Nyāyabinduprakaraṇa (Drop of Reasoning)
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** Hetubindunāmaprakaraṇa (Drop of Reasons)
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** Saṃtānāntarasiddhināmaprakaraṇa (Proof of Others' Continuums)
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** Vādanyāyanāmaprakaraṇa (Reasoning for Debate)
  
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Trisong Deutsen was the second of Tibet's often-mentioned and much-beloved "[[Three Ancestral Kings]]." The first was [[Songtsen Gampo]], who lived in the 6th to 7th century CE, and is considered a manifestation of [[Avalokiteshvara]]; and the third was [[Tri Ralpachen]], who is seen as an emanation of [[Vajrapani]]. "It is because of these three kings that Buddhism is so deeply rooted in Tibet," says Rinpoche. "When Tibetans talk about these three kings, if they don't have tears in their eyes, at least their necks move like an ostrich. Moreover, he is considered one of the founding fathers of the Nyingmapa tradition, together with Guru Padmasambhava and the Bodhisattva Abbott [[Shantarakshita]]."
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=== References ===
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{{reflist}}
  
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Trisong Deutsen's mother was [[Lady Angchung of Mashang]], a region in China, and his father was the Tibetan [[King Tridey Tsugten]]. He was only 13 when his father passed away and he was enthroned. He was given three wives and began his reign by following the course of his father - keeping the peace and minding the borders. But at the age of 20 his interest in the dharma began to blossom. Buddhism was already established in Tibet, thanks to King Songtsen Gampo, who two generations earlier had planted the seeds of the dharma by building 108 temples, including [[Lhasa Trulnang]] and [[Ramochey]], but Boen still remained very strong. Out of his own interest, and against the will of his ministers, King Trisong Deutsen dispatched [[Jnana Kumara]] to India to bring back a very highly renowned master from [[Nalanda University]] named Shantarakshita. By that time, the great Shantarakshita was old and toothless, but he was still willing to come teach the king and help consecrate the land that would be [[Samye Monastery]]. However, he confessed that he didn't have the energy to tame the Tibetans. He suggested that the king try to seek [[Guru Padmasambhava of Uddiyana]].
 
  
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Again acting against the advice of his ministers, Trisong Deutsen sent five emissaries to find the yogi. After many tests and obstacles Padmasambhava arrived in Tibet, but the first meeting with the King was not harmonious. Although the King had the great merit to even think of inviting Guru Rinpoche to Tibet, he still had pride and expected to be paid homage. But Padmasambhava on the occasion of that very first meeting subdued the King's pride, and it was the King who bowed to Padmasambhava in the end.
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[[Category:Buddhist Masters]]
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[[Category:Indian Masters]]
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With the King's wealth, might, and influence and Padmasambhava's great wisdom and skill, the two, together with Shantarakshita, set about transforming Tibet into a Buddhist kingdom. Samye Monastery was completed, and the great Tibetan translator [[Vairochana]] and a host of Indian panditas and translators were invited from India to translate the dharma into Tibetan. "Nearly every sutra we have now is because of King Trisong Deutsen's sponsorship," Rinpoche says. "He is responsible for institutionalizing Buddhism, and he caused the dharma to spread and flourish."
 
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After Guru Rinpoche and Shantarakshita returned to India, the King went on to receive teachings from Vairochana and [[Namkai Nyingpo]]. He was given all the tantras and sadhanas, and through practice he achieved realization. As a sign of realizing his physical body to be a mandala of deities, it is said that he experienced journeying through all the buddhafields. Thanks to Padmasambhava's long-life empowerments, the king lived to be 69 years old. He is now venerated as an incarnation of the noble Bodhisattva Manjushri.
 
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From a series of discussions with [[Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche]] [[http://www.khyentsefoundation.org/patronkingsVI.html Patron Kings: King Trisong Deutsen]]
 
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===EXTERNAL LINKS===
 
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*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trisong_Detsen wiki]
 
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[[category:Early Tibet]]
 

Revision as of 13:38, 10 July 2009

Dharmakirti (ca. 7th century), was an Indian scholar and one of the Buddhist founders of Indian philosophical logic. He was one of the primary theorists of Buddhist atomism, according to which the only items considered to exist are momentary Buddhist atoms and states of consciousness.

Philosophy[edit]

Dharmakirti presents most of his ideas in the guise of commentary on Dignaga's works, even if his theories go beyond what was presented by his predecessor. Some of his ideas, like his proof for the authority of the Buddha's words, are innovations, for Dignaga considered language just as fallible as inference.

There has long been disagreement among Indian and Tibetan doxographers as to how to categorize Dharmakirti's thought. The Gelug school asserts that he expressed Yogachara views, most non-Gelug Tibetan commentators assert that he expressed Sautrantika views and, according to one Tibetan source, a number of renowned later Indian Madhyamikas asserted that he expressed Madhyamaka views.[1]

Writings[edit]

  • The Seven Treatises on Valid Cognition:
    • Saṃbandhaparikṣhāvrtti (Analysis of Relations)
    • Pramāṇaviniścaya (Ascertainment of Valid Cognition)
    • Pramāṇavārttikakārika (Commentary on Dignaga's 'Compendium of Valid Cognition')
    • Nyāyabinduprakaraṇa (Drop of Reasoning)
    • Hetubindunāmaprakaraṇa (Drop of Reasons)
    • Saṃtānāntarasiddhināmaprakaraṇa (Proof of Others' Continuums)
    • Vādanyāyanāmaprakaraṇa (Reasoning for Debate)

References[edit]

  1. ↑ “Ngawang Palden in the Sautrantika chapter of his Explanation of the Conventional and the Ultimate in the Four Systems of Tenets (Grub mtha’ bzhi’i lugs kyi kun rdzob dang don dam pa’i don rnam par bshad pa legs bshad dpyid kyi dpal mo’i glu dbyangs, New Delhi: Guru Deva, 1972, 39.5-39.6) says that some such as Prajñakaragupta, Suryagupta, Shantarakshita, Kamalashila, and Jetari interpret Dharmakirti’s Commentary on [Dignaga’s] Compendium of Valid Cognition (Tshad ma rnam ’grel, Pramanavarttika) as a Madhyamika treatise." Dependent-Arising and Emptiness: A Tibetan Buddhist Interpretation of Madhyamika Philosophy Emphasizing the Compatibility of Emptiness and Conventional Phenomena Napper, Elizabeth. Boston: Wisdom Publications. p. 685, note 142
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