Shantarakshita

Shantarakshita (zhi Ba `tsho) (beginning of 8th century -783?) “protective of peace”, is an abbot of famous Nalanda for its synthesis of the thoughts Yogacara and Madhyamika exposed in the Madhyamakalamkara (Ornament of the average way), that the king Trisong Detsen invited to the Tibet since the Nepal between 761 and 767 to propagate the Bouddhisme there. The opposition of the factions Bön, which showed its arrival to be responsible for an epidemic, obliged it shortly after to be withdrawn again in Nepal, not without to have advised with the king to make come Padmasambhava. The crisis being calmed (according to the traditional history, Padmasambhava subjected the demons anti-Buddhists), Shantarakshita returned to continue its teaching and ordered the seven first regular monks of the country which resided at Phabonkha close to Lhassa, in a site of meditation dating from the time of Songtsen Gampo. At the same time, it supervised with Padmasambhava a vast company of translation of texts sanscrits which was going to form the base of the tradition Nyingma (it would have taken care of the Sutra S and Padmasambhava of the Tantra S). They would have of Co-founded the monastery of Samye. Before its death, it would have recommended to the king to make come his Kamalasila disciple to fight against the Chinese influence chan present since the 7th century. It was proposed besides that Trisong Detsen, by inviting the abbot of Nalanda, already sought to counterbalance this influence, awkward because of a military competition and policy which did not exist with the Indian kingdoms.

Philosophy

Its contribution to Buddhist philosophy consists of an attempt at reconciliation of the thoughts will yogachara and madhyamika, and in incorporation with this last system of the ideas of the logicians and epistemologists such as Dharmakirti and Dignaga. The madhyamika exposed by Shantarakshita is that of Svantantrika which is attached to Bhavavika and Gyanagarva. According to him, the yogacarin provide a good explanation of conventional reality, but the madhyamika exceeds them with regard to ultimate reality, by showing that the spirit cannot be this reality as they claim it. Its ideas are condensed in the Madhyamakalamkara (Ornament of the average way), very dense text, in general accompanied by the important comment that in made at the end 19th century Mipham Rinpoche (Jamgön Mipham) of the current nyingma.

Caption

Shantarakshita is regarded as a Bodhisattva (Bodhisattva Khenpo (abbot) or Bodhisattva Bhikshu (monk), and an incarnation of Vajrapani. A probably legendary tradition made of him the son of king de Zahor (Bengal) and the brother of Mandarava, one of the partners of Padmasambhava.

The legend of the stupa Bya-rung-kha-shor , mentioned in a legendary biography of Padmasambhava, associates four important actors of the establishment of Buddhism with Tibet. According to this legend, a tear of compassion of Avalokiteshvara fell on ground and became the girl of a chicken stockbreeder. She had four wire and decided to build a Stupa to preserve at it relics of Mahakashyapa, but because of its low social position the permission of the king solicited first of all, who granted it to him, from where the name of the building which means “He gave its agreement to do it”. Its sons, which complete work after its death, renaquirent in the forms of Trisong Detsen, Shantarakshita, Padmasambhava and Jnana Kumara, which would have brought back Shantarakshita.

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