Prof. Dr. Klaus-Dieter Mathes (Hong Kong)Bcom ldan Rig pa’i ral gri’s Madhyamakālaṃkāropadeśa Commentary

16 July 2025

16:00, 16 July 2025. ESA-Ost, Raum 120 & Zoom

Bcom ldan Rig pa’i ral gri (1227–1305) was a Bka’ gdams pa master who studied under the Snar thang abbot Skyo ston Smon lam tshul khrims (1219–1299) and other famous scholars such as Sa skya Paṇḍita (1182–1251) and Chag Lo Chos rje dpal (1197–1264). Interestingly, Rig ral turns against Sa paṇ’s Madhyamaka interpretation of buddha-nature and is also listed in Tāranātha’s (1575-1635) gzhan stong transmission lineage. Moreover, he is to my knowledge the only Tibetan scholar who wrote a commentary on the Madhyamakālaṃkāropadeśa (MAU), and in it, in any case, he fully endorses Ratnākaraśānti’s strong leanings towards Yogācāra. Rig ral also stands out therein for his confronting Candrakīrti’s Madhyamaka and criticizing, for example, the negation of a svabhāva (which amounts to going against rang stong). However, he falls short of using the technical term gzhan stong.

Together with my research assistant Daniel Enrique (Kathmandu) I have edited and translated Rig ral’s MAU commentary. Based on that work I will present an analysis of the text mainly addressing the question whether Tāranātha’s inclusion of Rig ral in the gzhan stong lineage is justified.

The lecture will be held at ESA-Ost, Raum 120, Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1, 20146 Hamburg, and via Zoom. For those who wish to participate via Zoom and are not students/members of Universität Hamburg, please write a short email to Prof. Dr. Wangchuk one day before the event: dorji.wangchuk@uni-hamburg.de.

Click to download the invitation as a PDF

Prof. Dr. Dorji Wangchuk (Director) & Dr. Orna Almogi (Co-director)
Khyentse Center for Tibetan Buddhist Textual Scholarship (KC-TBTS)
Abteilung für Kultur und Geschichte Indiens und Tibets
Asien-Afrika-Institut
Universität Hamburg
Alsterterrasse 1
D-20354 Hamburg