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TSONG KHA PA
Although Tsong kha pa (1357–1419) is considered by
many as a seminal figure, the nature of his contribu-
tion is not always well understood. He is often pre-
sented as a reformer of Tibetan Buddhism or as being
hostile to tantric practice. To correct these misappre-
hensions, he must be placed within his historical con-
text before sketching some of his key ideas.
Tsong kha pa was born during a crucial period in
the second development (phyi dar) of Tibetan Bud-
dhism, which had started at the end of the tenth cen-
tury. One of the important questions debated during
this period was the relation between monasticism and
tantric practice. A solution was initiated by the famous
Indian teacher ATISHA(982–1054) and further devel-
oped by other Tibetan thinkers such as ‘Brom ston
(1055–1064) and SA SKYAPANDITA(SAKYAPANDITA)
(1182–1251). According to this model, monasticism
and tantric practices are included in the PATHof the
BODHISATTVA, which provides the ethical framework
for the entire range of Buddhist practices. In this per-
spective, higher tantric practices, ethically subordi-
nated to the bodhisattva ideal, are the most effective
way to realize this ideal, while monasticism is the best
way of life to embody it.
Tsong kha pa devoted much of his work to the con-
tinuation of this moral tradition, as is made clear in
his masterful Lam rim chen mo(Extensive Stages of the
Path to Enlightenment). He regarded the promotion of
monasticism as one of his central missions, as illus-
trated by his establishment in 1409 of the Great Prayer
(smon lam chen mo) festival in Lhasa, which is said to
have brought together eight thousand monks. Tsong
kha pa’s biographers consider this one of his most im-
portant deeds. It laid the ground for the foundation
during the same year of the monastery Dga’ ldan, one
of the three main monasteries near Lhasa. The other
two monasteries, ‘Bras spung (pronounced Drepung)
and Se ra, were founded shortly thereafter by two of
Tsong kha pa’s direct disciples, thus creating the fa-
mous three seats, the institutional basis for the future
growth of his tradition.
Tsong kha pa’s fame is also due to the quality of his
works and the power of his ideas. He lived during the
period in which Tibetans developed their own sys-
tematic presentation of the range of Buddhist materi-
als they had received from India. Tsong kha pa’s syn-
thesis, which brings together the exoteric and esoteric
aspects of the tradition, is not only masterful in the
quality of its scholarship, it is also highly original and
distinctive in its interpretations, particularly in the
fields of the MADHYAMAKA SCHOOLand TANTRA, which
Tsong kha pa considered his specialties.
Tsong kha pa’s interpretation of Indian Madhya-
maka is characterized by his strong preference for
the Prasan ̇gika (consequentialist) approach of CAN-
DRAKIRTI(ca. 600–650 C.E.), which Tsong kha pa sees
as the only fully correct view. In asserting the superi-
ority of the Prasan ̇gika, Tsong kha pa adopts the views
of earlier thinkers such as Spa tshab (b. 1055) and his
followers, as well as Tsong kha pa’s own main teacher
Red mda ba (1349–1412). These teachers extolled Can-
drakrti’s Prasan ̇gika view of S ́UNYATA(EMPTINESS)as
being utterly beyond any description and hence be-
yond the reach of logical thinking. Tsong kha pa, how-
ever, insists on retaining a place for the traditional tools
of Buddhist logic within this radical view, arguing that
even in the context of the search for the ultimate one
needs probative arguments.
This trust in Buddhist logic in a Prasan ̇gika context
is unique to Tsong kha pa. Earlier thinkers such as Phya
pa (1109–1169) had insisted on the importance of
Buddhist LOGICin Madhyamaka, but they followed the
Svatantrika of BHAVAVIVEKA(ca. 500–570 C.E.). Tsong
kha pa adopted Phya pa’s realist interpretation of Bud-
dhist logic but integrated it into Candrakrti’s inter-
pretation. This led to the creation of an audacious
synthesis, which conciliates a radical undermining of
essentialism and a realist confidence that thinking can
apprehend reality, at least partly, and therefore can lead
to insight into the ultimate nature of things.
For Tsong kha pa, this conviction is reflected in the
development of the three types of critical acumen
(prajña; Tibetan, shes rab or) articulated by the Indian
Buddhist tradition. First, one should study extensively
both sutras and tantras. Then one should start the
process of internalization of the teachings by reflect-
ing inwardly on them. This is the stage at which pro-
bative arguments are essential, because without proper
inferences understanding remains superficial and fails
to reach conviction in the Buddhist teaching in gen-
eral and in the validity of the Prasan ̇gika view in par-
ticular. Finally, one should enter into prolonged
meditative retreats to attain the experiential realization
of the studied teachings, as Tsong kha pa did atTSONG KHA PA