The Madman's Middle Way: Reflections on Reality of the Tibetan Monk Gendun ChopelGendun Chopel is considered the most important Tibetan intellectual of the twentieth century. His life spanned the two defining moments in modern Tibetan history: the entry into Lhasa by British troops in 1904 and by Chinese troops in 1951. Recognized as an incarnate lama while he was a child, Gendun Chopel excelled in the traditional monastic curriculum and went on to become expert in fields as diverse as philosophy, history, linguistics, geography, and tantric Buddhism. Near the end of his life, before he was persecuted and imprisoned by the government of the young Dalai Lama, he would dictate the Adornment for Nagarjuna’s Thought, a work on Madhyamaka, or “Middle Way,” philosophy. It sparked controversy immediately upon its publication and continues to do so today. The Madman’s Middle Way presents the first English translation of this major Tibetan Buddhist work, accompanied by an essay on Gendun Chopel’s life liberally interspersed with passages from his writings. Donald S. Lopez Jr. also provides a commentary that sheds light on the doctrinal context of the Adornment and summarizes its key arguments. Ultimately, Lopez examines the long-standing debate over whether Gendun Chopel in fact is the author of the Adornment; the heated critical response to the work by Tibetan monks of the Dalai Lama’s sect; and what the Adornment tells us about Tibetan Buddhism’s encounter with modernity. The result is an insightful glimpse into a provocative and enigmatic workthatwill be of great interest to anyone seriously interested in Buddhism or Asian religions. |
Contents
1 | |
2 The Text | 47 |
3 The Commentary | 121 |
4 The Author | 220 |
5 The Critics | 230 |
6 The Question of Modernity | 245 |
255 | |
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The Madman's Middle Way: Reflections on Reality of the Tibetan Monk Gendun ... Donald S. Lopez Jr. No preview available - 2005 |
Common terms and phrases
accept according Adornment analysis appear assertion basis become beginning believe body Buddha buddhahood Buddhist bzang called claim common conception consciousness conventional debate decided described Dge dun chos Dge lugs dun chos phel earlier emptiness enlightenment established everything example extremes fact final follow four GC’s human identify ignorance India intrinsic existence Lama land Madhyamaka meaning mere merely mind mode monks N¯ag¯arjuna nature nonexistence notes object object of negation one’s ordinary pa’i path perceived person perspective phenomena philosophical position possible Pr¯asa˙ngika presentation production provides question reads reality reasoning refers refute regard remain rgya scholars seek seems seen sense simply someone statement teaching tenets term things thought Tibet Tibetan translated true existence truly truths Tsong kha ultimate understand unenlightened valid valid knowledge wisdom writes