Early bKa´ gdams pa scholasticism - Phya pa Chos kyi seng ge´s contribution

Based on the investigation of recently surfaced materials, this study intends to shed light on a crucial but as yet largely uncharted period of Tibetan scholasticism. The first centuries of the Second Diffusion of Buddhism in Tibet, i.e., from the end of the 10th through the 13th century, constitute a fundamental stage in the development of Tibetan philosophy with regard to the methods of textual study and the exegetical directions that developed in various areas of Buddhist learning. This project will take as its focal point the contribution of Phya pa Chos kyi seng ge (1109 -1169), a famous Buddhist thinker linked to the monastery of gSang phu Ne`u thog in central Tibet who stands out as a foremost figure in the fields of epistemology (tshad ma) and Madhyamaka philosophy (dbu ma). Phya pa`s innovative, but not uncontroversial views left a deep mark on subsequent developments in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, including by major figures of the classical period such as Tsong kha pa (1357 -1419). Phya pa`s epistemological system will be studied on the basis of two of his works that became available in 2006. His views will be examined from the standpoint of three interacting planes: (1) their place in Phya pa`s philosophical system taken as a whole; (2) their relation to contemporaneous Tibetan developments; (3) their relation to the Indian tradition and the later Tibetan tradition. This investigation will thereby address the converging issues of the development of epistemology within the gSang phu (and gSang phu-related) tradition and the specific interaction between Madhyamaka and epistemology, two fields of Buddhist learning that are intermingled in Phya pa`s works. By systematically examining a selection of the most representative aspects of Phya pa`s thought, continuing the line of research I have taken in several earlier papers, I aim at contributing to a pioneering, broad- angled understanding of this author and the intellectual context in which he lived. This study will be of relevance to scholars in the fields of Tibetan studies and Buddhist studies, as well as historians of philosophy and philosophers.

Based on recently recovered Tibetan manuscripts, this project has uncovered hitherto unknown information about the formative period of Tibetan scholasticism from the late 10th through the 13th century, a period in which Buddhism was transmitted from India to Tibet on a large scale the second time. It has shed light on the literary genres typical of this period, the conceptual tools developed for hermeneutics and philosophical analysis, the innovations in interpreting Buddhist texts, and the networks of learning amongst scholars and religious institutions.This wide-ranging research provides in particular a pioneering in-depth study of representative topics of the epistemological system of the influential Tibetan thinker Phya pa Chos kyi seng ge (11091169). It examines Phya pas views in relation to the overarching Madhyamaka framework of his philosophy, within the overall development of the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist intellectual tradition, and as a contribution to world philosophy. With regard to the transmission and assimilation of the Indian Buddhist corpus, Phya pa stands out as a second-generation scholar, in contrast to the first-generation scholars who studied with Indian/Kashmiri masters, translated Sanskrit works , provided outlines and digests, and took first steps towards a fuller exegesis. Phya pa was taught by Tibetan masters. He studied Indian works in their Tibetan translation or through synopses by his Tibetan predecessors. He composed treatises that have distanced themselves from the Indian sources in terms of their formal composition, the topics they address (or leave out), the priority they give to logic over faithfulness to the letter of the Indian sources, and the original interpretations and ideas they propose.Notably, Phya pa is shown to uphold an unconventional philosophical positionthat of a Madhyamaka (a proponent of emptiness at the ultimate level) who endorses nave external realism at the level of relative reality. Within his innovative philosophy of mind, Phya pa modifies the definition of valid cognition so as to support a model of perception that is directly active (i.e., that ascertains its object by itself). His theory of argumentation provides a systematic classification of arguments that innovatively highlights subjective criteria (the opponents mental state).This research has confirmed the extensive influence of Phya pa on the later Tibetan tradition, but also the non-monolithic character of the latter. Furthermore, it has identified various sources of influence on Phya pas ideas, a prominent one being rGya dmar ba Byang chub grags, with whom Phya pa had studied in sTod lung in what appears to have been an extremely active intellectual environment.These results have been presented in a number of articles. A forthcoming monograph will focus on Phya pas philosophy of mind, portraying it in the context of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist intellectual history as well as from the perspective of Western philosophy.