Why Can’t Mādhyamikas Finish What They Started?
November 9, 12:00 PM
A depiction of the 15th-century scholar Gorampa Sonam Senge
The Madhyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy is full of sophisticated arguments pertaining to metaphysics, logic, epistemology, and ethics. But for some followers of the Madhyamaka school (called Mādhyamikas), their arguments about the ways that ordinary persons perceive, analyze, and engage with the world force them into seemingly bizarre conclusions when they attempt to explain the content of a fully awakened buddha’s mind. This paper considers one account of a buddha’s awakened awareness (ye shes), according to the Tibetan philosopher Gorampa Sonam Senge (1429-89). I argue that Gorampa’s commitment to certain doxographical categories, combined with his adherence to logically consistent systems of thought, force him to accept particularly unsatisfying conclusions about awakened awareness. Gorampa argues that from a buddha’s own perspective (rang snang), the kinds of things that appear to ordinary persons do not exist at all. However, from the perspective of others (gzhan snang), these sorts of things can be said to exist in a buddha’s mind.
About the Speaker
Dr. Constance Kassor is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Lawrence University in Wisconsin, where she teaches courses on Buddhist thought and Asian religious traditions. Her research focuses on metaphysics and epistemology in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, and her forthcoming book, Accounting for Awakened Awareness, explores these issues from the perspective of the 15th-century Tibetan scholar Gorampa Sonam Senge. Connie is also interested in issues related to women and gender minorities in Buddhist traditions, as well as Buddhism and social justice, and she has spent several years living with Buddhist communities in India and Nepal. In addition to her scholarly publications, she has written articles for Lion’s Roar and Tricycle, recorded an audiobook on Asian religious traditions for Audible, and has a course forthcoming on Tibetan history, culture, and religion for Wondrium.