Rangtong

Rangtong (Wylie: rang stong

"empty of self-nature") is a philosophical term in Tibetan Buddhism that is used to distinguish the majority teaching on the nature of śūnyatā or "emptiness", namely that all things are characterised by emptiness in both the relative and absolute sense.[1] This position is associated with the Madhyamaka school, which dominates both Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism.

The oppositional minority position is called shentong (and it has often been incorrectly associated with the Cittamātra (Yogacara) position, but is in fact also Madhyamaka[1]) and is present primarily as the main philosophical theory of the Jonang school although it is also taught by the Sakya[1] and Kagyu schools.[2][3] In 1658, the Gelug authorities banned the Jonang school for political reasons, forcibly converting its monks and monasteries to the Gelug school, as well as banning shentong philosophy and books, thus making the rangtong position the overwhelmingly majority one in Tibetan Buddhism.[1]

Rangtong schools

The term rangtong is not an autonym but rather arose from the shentong theorist Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen, who coined the name shentong to characterise his teachings and used rangtong to refer to the oppositional theory.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Stearns, Cyrus (2010). The Buddha from Dölpo : a study of the life and thought of the Tibetan master Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (Rev. and enl. ed. ed.). Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 9781559393430.
  2. ↑ Pema Tönyö Nyinje, 12th Tai Situpa. Ground, Path and Fruition. Zhyisil Chokyi Ghatsal Charitable Trust. p. 2005. ISBN 978-1877294358.
  3. ↑ Hookham, S.K. (1991). The Buddha within : Tathagatagarbha doctrine according to the Shentong interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhaga. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0791403587.