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Abstract

This dissertation explores how benevolence and self-interest converge, thereby lessening moral demandingness, in the writing of the eighth century Indian Buddhist monk, Śāntideva. In the opening chapter, I argue that Śāntideva appears vulnerable to the overdemandingness objection, the claim that a moral system asks too much of its followers. This is because he endorses an extremely demanding process of virtue development during which an individual commits to becoming a bodhisattva, the Buddhist saint who voluntarily takes countless rebirths, often in painful situations, in order to attain full Buddhahood and liberate all beings from suffering. In the dissertation, I show that Śāntideva can make a powerful response to the overdemandingness objection, largely because the psychological transformation bodhisattvas undergo, as they perfect the virtues of buddhahood, also greatly lessens the severity of the sacrifices they make.
      I begin to reconstruct this response in the second chapter, by showing how the Buddhist analysis of suffering implies that a bodhisattva gives up less than it appears when they commit to advanced Buddhist training. The final three chapters each explore an aspect of how demandingness lessens and self-interest and benevolence converge as the bodhisattva progresses along the path. The third chapter explores how perfecting Buddhist virtues allows the bodhisattva to overcome a particularly pernicious form of weakness of will that prevents doing what is in one’s best interest. The fourth chapter explains how developing key Buddhist virtues like patience, mindfulness and introspection lessens the amount of suffering experienced by the bodhisattva when they make sacrifices for others. The final chapter explores several demand-lessening benefits that result from perfecting wisdom and realizing the truth of no-self (anātman). The dissertation illustrates the philosophical value of Śāntideva’s writing, by showing that even though he does not explicitly raise and respond to the overdemandingness objection, he is aware of the need to lessen the demandingness of his ethical requirements and incorporates philosophically interesting demand-lessening strategies in order to do so.

My interest in the subject of Tibetan sacred biography, or namtar (rnam thar short for rnam par thar pa, meaning "complete liberation"[1]), originates from the aspiration to merge two vocations: that as a scholar/practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism and a cartoonist. I have mused for many years on how to find a way to express the dharma in an authentic way through comic books. The lives of Śākyamuni Buddha and the many saints that emulated him are narratives that have been shared and celebrated for millennia. These stories are what first captivated my attention when I was younger and brought me to the Buddhist path. By studying the history of these stories and their genre, I hope to cultivate the inspiration to write comics that do not merely appropriate these stories, but express them with dynamic insight.

This current study will examine the role of the sacred biography in Buddhism, the namtar in Tibetan Buddhism, and their role on the Vajrayāna path in particular. Also, this study will examine how the sacred biography has been adapted in different medias and how it may be adapted in the medium of comic books in a new way. Part 1 of this study will survey the evolving history of the namtar genre and ask the following questions: Throughout its history, what purpose does the namtar serve in the context of Tibetan Buddhism? What role does it serve specifically in the context of the Vajrayāna path? In Part 2, this study will reflect on some recent adaptations of namtars and other Buddhist sacred biographies that have been adapted into nontraditional mediums. How can an adaptation of the namtar in more contemporary mediums, express its traditional intention? Or if it departs from its traditional function, what purpose can it serve? Finally in Part 3, I will reflect on some recent artistic styles in contemporary comics. I postulate on how I might approach the artistic project of adapting namtar, or something related to it, into the medium of a comic book. Can a comic book adaptation express the namtar in an interesting way without losing sight of its traditional purpose?

A touchstone for this entire project will be my translation of the seventh chapter of the namtar of Shabkar Tshogdruk Rangdrol.[2] Shabkar was a charismatic wandering yogi of the Nyingma school, although he was also a figure of the nonsectarian (ris med) movement. In the nineteenth century, he travelled by foot all over Tibet singing spiritual songs (mgur) and practicing in famous caves of the great Buddhist masters of the past. His captivating life story is well known and celebrated by Tibetans of all different schools and backgrounds and his story is often compared to that of Milarepa for its popularity and universal appeal. I wanted to translate a namtar from the Tibetan source as a basis for this project. I will refer back to this text as an example throughout the research and in Part 3 I consider how this section could be adapted into a comic book. I choose this text mainly because I found it to be, above all else, a great and inspiring story, which could be adapted or developed in the medium of comics. (Wilkinson, introduction, 5–6)

Notes

1. The origin of this term will be explained in Part I of this study.
2. Zhabs-dkar tshog-drug rang-grol (1781-1851), snyigs dus ‘gro ba yongs kyi skyabs mgon zhabs dkar rdo rje 'chang chen po'i rnam thar rgyas par bshad pa skal bzang gdul bya 'thar 'dod rnams kyi re ba skong ba'i yid bzhin gyi nor bu bsam 'phel dbang gi rgyal. -- Hsi ning shih : Ch'ing hai min chu ch'u pan she, 1985-1988. W6486 Accessed form www.TBRC.org August 15, 2013. I also referred to a second edition for reference. See Bibliography.

Abstract

The present dissertation is a case study in dgag lan debate, a specific form of debate that developed in Tibet, conducted through the exchange of texts. The dispute that is investigated evolved between the Rnying ma scholar 'Ju Mi pham (1846–1912) and his Dge lugs opponent Dpa' ris Rab gsal (1840–1912) and centres on the correct interpretation of the ninth chapter of the Bodhicaryāvatāra, an Indian work (7th–8th ct. CE) that is of pivotal importance to the understanding of Madhyamaka thought. Polemics were exchanged over a period of about 27 years and involved the composition of six treatises, which makes this particular debate one of the most extended cases of its kind. The first section of the thesis provides the general context of the controversy, by reconstructing its historical development, placing it within the formation of polemical literature in general, and exploring the historical conditions for the emergence of the debate and its socio-political background. The main part deals with the content of the debate as it becomes visible through the texts that were exchanged. It outlines the key issues of the controversy, explains their respective background, and investigates the dynamic development of the debate by following the exchange of arguments beyond the borders of the individual texts. The last section – intended as a complement for the specialist – provides a detailed and comprehensive structural analysis of the relevant texts down to the level of individual arguments and makes their connections to previous and later arguments explicit. (Source Accessed Jan 28, 2021)