The Tibetan Traditions of Guides to the Madhyamaka View (dbu ma’i lta khrid): The Schooling of View with Meditation

Madhyamaka philosophy is inseparable from meditative practice. While traditional Indian and Tibetan scholarship has always understood Madhyamaka as a meditative tradition, contemporary interpretations often treat it as a purely theoretical or metaphysical system. This paper argues that the Madhyamaka insight into emptiness (śūnyatā) is unique and therefore requires a distinct method of meditative cultivation (bhāvanā). To demonstrate this, it surveys the Tibetan genre of dbu ma'i lta khrid (Guides to the Madhyamaka View), examining works by Réndawa, Tsongkhapa, Baso Chökyi Gyeltsen, Shakya Chokden, Jamyang Zhépa, and Ju Mipham. These texts provide specific meditative instructions for embodying different interpretations of Madhyamaka, revealing a Madhyamaka phenomenology and extending the methodology for interpreting this tradition.

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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.