The Tibetan Traditions of Guides to the Madhyamaka View (dbu ma’i lta khrid): The Schooling of View with Meditation
Journal of Indian Philosophy March 14, 2025 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1007/s10781-025-09600-3 via OpenAlex
Summary
Mādhyamikas incorporate meditation as a core aspect of their understanding of reality, contrasting with contemporary interpretations that often overlook this dimension. The paper emphasizes that meditation (bhāvanā) is essential to Madhyamaka discourse and that the unique insight into emptiness (śūnyatā) necessitates specific meditative practices. It highlights Tibetan texts that provide meditative instructions relevant to various Madhyamaka interpretations, illustrating the deep connection between philosophy and meditation in this tradition.
Study at a glance
| Key finding | Meditation is an essential and inseparable component of Madhyamaka discourse, requiring distinct methods of cultivation. |
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Abstract
Abstract This paper examines whether Mādhyamikas meditate, or if their insight into reality is purely a theoretical one. While traditional scholarship in India and Tibet is of a single voice in considering Madhyamaka fundamentally a meditative tradition, contemporary interpretations frequently neglect its meditative dimension by getting embroiled in its metaphysical aspects, via the lenses of various western philosophical traditions. This paper attempts to underscore that meditation ( bhāvanā ) is an essential and inseparable component of Madhyamaka discourse and that since Mādhyamikas’ insight into emptiness ( śūnyatā ) is unique, it requires a distinct method of meditative cultivation. This was the unquestioned understanding of Tibetan interpreters. To illustrate the inseparable and symbiotic connection between Madhyamaka philosophy and meditation the paper surveys salient features from the sparsely studied Tibetan genre of dbu ma’i lta khrid (Guides to the Madhyamaka View). Such works by Réndawa (1349–1412), Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), Baso Chökyi Gyeltsen (1402–1473), Shakya Chokden (1428–1507), Jamyang Zhépa (1648–1721), and Ju Mipham (1846–1912) are discussed as they offer specific meditative instructions on how to embody their author’s particular interpretation of Madhyamaka in meditation. The analysis thus brings into relief Madhyamaka phenomenology and attempts to extend the methodology for interpreting this tradition.