The Reflexive Nature of Awareness : A Tibetan Madhyamaka Defence

292 Pages·1998·9.038 MB·English

by  Paul Williams

CURZON CRITICAL STUDIES
IN BUDDHISM
General Editors:
Charles W. Prebish
Pennsylvania State University
Damien Keown
Goldsmiths College, University of London
The Curzon Critical Studies in Buddhism Series is a comprehen­
sive study of the Buddhist tradition. The series explores this
complex and extensive tradition from a variety of perspectives,
using a range of different methodologies.
The Series is diverse in its focus, including historical studies,
textual translations and commentaries, sociological investigations,
bibliographic studies, and considerations of religious practice as an
expression of Buddhism’s integral religiosity. It also presents
materials on modern intellectual historical studies, including the
role of Buddhist thought 'and scholarship in a contemporary,
critical context and in the light of current social issues. The series is
expansive and imaginative in scope, spanning more than two and a
half millennia of Buddhist history. It is receptive to all research
works that inform and advance our knowledge and understanding
of the Buddhist tradition. The series maintains the highest
standards of scholarship and promotes the application of
innovative methodologies and research methods.
BUDDHISM AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Edited by Damien Keown, Charles Prebish, Wayne Husted
WOMEN IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE BUDDHA
Struggle for Liberation in the Therigatha
Kathryn R. Blackstone
ALTRUISM AND REALITY
STUDIES IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE
BODHICARYAVATARA
Paul Williams
THE REFLEXIVE
NATURE OF
AWARENESS
A Tibetan Madhyamaka Defence
Paul Williams
CURZON
For Leslie Kawamura
First Published in 1998
by Curzon Press
15 The Quadrant, Richmond
Surrey, TW9 IBP
© 1998 Paul Williams
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
TJ. International, Padstow, Cornwall
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and record­
ing, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN 0-7007-1030-2

Contents
Editor’s Preface...........................................................vii
Acknowledgments .......... ix
Preface ...........................................................................xi
1 Introducing svasarnvedana—and its two types ........1
2 3antaraksita on the reflexive nature
of consciousness .......................................................19
3 Madhyamakalamkara 16-17 in Prajn akaramati ’ s
BodMcaryavatarapanjika on BCA 9:21.......................37
4 The verse..................................................................51
5 Mi pham on Bodfdcarydvatdra 9:26 (Tib. 25)............85
6 The response of Tre bo brag dkar sprul sku
bLo bzang dpal Idan bstan ’dzin............................107
7 Mi pham’s reply.....................................................119
8 Concluding note—why all the fuss? ...................183
Appendix One............................................................217
Appendix Two ......................................................231
Bibliography ..............................................................247
Index............................................................................260

Editor’s Preface
This volume inaugurates a series of monographs on
Buddhism as a part of the cultural and intellectual life
and history of Tibet and the Tibetan cultural area, an
area encompassing lands from the Himalayas the-
Id
far reaches of Mongolian civilisation. The Dharma
Vajra Series will include works exploring the diver­
sity of these traditions through a variety of ap­
proaches, including not only philosophical analyses,
but also historical, sociological, and anthropological
studies, textual and literary studies, bibliographic
works, and studies of Buddhist arts and music.
■ We are fortunate indeed to have Paul Williams’
work on self-awareness (rang rig/svasamvedana) as our
lead volume both for its subject matter and its author.
Self-awareness is a topic that is central to the practice of
Tibetan Buddhism—especially the rDzogs chen
tradition of the rNying ma school—as well being one
of the doctrinal points essential to Tibetan doxographic
analyses of the Buddhist philosophies of Indian
Mahayana. It is one of the notable issues in the dia­
logue between Yogacara and Madhyamaka Bud­
dhism in India and later, in Tibet, between the dGe
lugs tradition initiated by Tsong kha pa and writers
such as Mi pham ’Jam dbyangs mam rgyal rgya
mtsho, dialogues that shed light not only on Buddhist
views about the nature of the mind and of spiritual ex-
viii Editor’s Preface
perience, but also on the primary ontological
distinction made in Mahayana Buddhism, that be­
tween conventional and ultimate truth.
These are subjects that Paul Williams has ex­
plored for some time, beginning with his presenta­
tion to the Csoma de Koros Symposium held in Aus­
tria in 1981—a paper subsequently published as “On
Rang Mg’ and included in its entirety as an appendix
to the present work. The author has written prolifi-
cally on Madhyamaka in Tibet—introducing us to
thinkers and ideas outside of the dGe lugs pa ortho­
doxy and, in so doing, giving voice to Tibetan philo­
sophical interpretations that have not received as
much attention as they should from modem Western
scholars. His 1989 book Mahayana Buddhism: The Doc­
trinal Foundations (London and New York: Roudedge)
is well known for its lucid overview of the Mahayana
texts and their philosophies not only in India and Ti­
bet but throughout Asia. The present work is a con­
tinuation of what he has given us in the past clear, but
closely argued, expositions and analyses of Tibetan
interpretations of Indian Buddhism, illuminated by a
fine insight into the historical context of Tibetan
Buddhist philosophising.
Joe Bransford Wilson
The University of North Carolina at Wilmington
A cknow ledgm ents
This monograph began as an article for a collection of
my papers on the Indo-Tibetan interpretation of verses
from the Bodhicaryavatara. That book is forthcoming
as Studies in the Philosophy of the Bodhicaryavatara. The
article simply outgrew its paper format and has be­
come an academic monograph, although it really be­
longs with those other papers. Research on the pres­
ent work and most of the writing was completed dur­
ing my tenure of the Numata Chair of Buddhist Stud­
ies at the University of Calgary, Winter 1994. I re­
main extremely grateful to the University of Calgary,
its library, and die Department of Religious Studies
for the wonderful facilities and hospitality they ex­
tended to me during that visit. I have developed a great
affection for Calgary and its university, and the de­
partment showed itself a model of how to treat a visit­
ing professor. In particular, I should like to thank my'
colleagues in Buddhist Studies at Calgary, Leslie
Kawamura and A.W. Barber, together with their
families, for their warm friendship, the stimulating
discussions, and willingness to help and offer what­
ever might be needed for my research. I am grateful
also to Ernst Steinkellner for permission to reprint as
Appendix 2 my 1983 article ‘On rang rig’, and to my re­
search student Oman Rotem for covering some of
my teaching while I was in Canada, and for his com­