Tibetan Publications · Volume
Chos bzang rigs pa'i rnam dpyod
The current and third research monograph in the Series--Chos bzang rigs pa'i rnam dpyod: Rong zom pa ma hā pandi ta'i theg tshul rjod byed zhib dpyad zhu dag lung khungs ngos 'dzin dang - brjod bya gnas lugs rig par rtsad zhib tshom bu by mKhan-po bKra-shis-rdo-rje, one of the four pilots from the NNRC is a fruit of many years of intensive research. The main title of the monograph is a clear allusion to Mahāyānasūtrālamkāra 8.9a: sudharmatāyuktivicāransaya, the Tibetan rendering being chos bzang rigs pa'i rnam dpyad bsam pa can. mKhan-po, like Mi-pham rNam-rgyal-rgya-mtsho (1846-1912), is insinuating that Rong-zom Chos-kyi-bzang-po, as his name also indicates, was a rational person, a sudharmatāyuktivicāranāsaya (chos bzang rigs pas rmam dpyad bsam pa can). As the subtitle shows, the study consists of a critical edition of the Theg chen tshul 'jug, one of Rong-zom-pa's magna opera that deals with the philosophy of the Great Perfection (rDzogs-pa-chen-po), including identification of the sources therein either ad verbum or ad sensum and a study of the special ontology of the special Mahāyāna proposed in the work. There will certainly be lapses of commission, omissions, and imprecisions, and hence room for corrections and improvements, but in terms of the research methods and research outcome, mKhan-po's study can be considered ground-breaking. The value of mKhan-po's research in the field of historical-philological studies of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist texts and ideas is bound to be enduring and no one wishing to pursue further study of Rong-zom-pa's thoughts can afford ignoring this important contribution.