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Self, Reality and Reason in Tibetan Philosophy: Tsongkhapa's Quest for the Middle Way (Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism)

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According to Mahayana Buddhism, it is direct realization of the true nature of reality (emptiness/dependent-origination) that liberates one from suffering and leads to nirvana and enlightenment. Yet the subtle nature of reality is not easy to grasp, and requires diligent effort in the form of study, reflection, and meditation. This work is most valuable in helping scholars and students come to an understanding of emptiness and understood and explained by the great 14th century philosopher and meditation master, Je Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism and one of the giants of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

Geshe Thupten Jinpa is uniquely qualified to write such a work, having attained the highest degree of scholarship in the traditional Tibetan Buddhist system of education (Geshe Lharampa) and also a Ph.D. from Cambridge University. He is extremely well versed in both traditional Tibetan and western philosophical thought. Moreover, having served for over twenty years as principal English translator and interpreter for H.H. the Dalai Lama, he is very skilled in conveying information in English and in translating Tibetan terminology and concepts into English.

This book will probably be of most benefit to serious scholars and practitioners of Mahayana Buddhism who seek a better understanding of Je Tsongkhapa's presentation of emptiness. As an edited version of Geshe Jinpa's doctoral dissertation, it is not intended as an introductory work. However, those who already have some background in this area of study may find it of great value.

Geshe Jinpa is also the series editor of the Library of Tibetan classics, a wonderful series of books that are also highly recommended for students of Tibetan Buddhism.

Thubten Jimpa draws on Tsongkhapa to tackle questions of time, memory, unity, and identity. This clarifies the very basis of Buddhism for practitioners at all levels, perhaps especially those who greatly enjoy non-analytic meditation without the benefit of thorough-going analytic meditation. Jimpa's training in western philosophy, and his gentle sense of amusement with the conventions of philosophical inquiry (east and west) makes this a particularly lucid yet inebriating read - somewhat like high alpine air. Best of all, whether it intends to or not, this text speaks directly to contemporary western inquiries into parallel questions. Thinkers like Spinoza, Hume, Bergson, Deleuze, Whitehead, James (whom Brian Massumi places in a tradition of "radical empiricism") all leap into sharper context.