The Buddhist Concept of Selflessness According to Je Tsongkhapa

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The Buddhist Concept of Selflessness According to Je Tsongkhapa 1 UNIVERSITY OF SÃO PAULO SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY, LITERATURE AND HUMAN SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY PhD PROGRAMME Adriana Toledo Piza The Buddhist Concept of Selflessness According to Je Tsongkhapa Revised Version São Paulo 2019 2 Adriana Toledo Piza The Buddhist Concept of Selflessness According to Je Tsongkhapa Revised Version This thesis is presented at the PhD program on Philosophy of the School of Philosophy, Literature and Human Sciences of the University of São Paulo for obtaining the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the supervision of Prof. PhD João Vergílio Gallerani Cuter São Paulo 2019 Autorizo a reprodução e divulgação total ou parcial deste trabalho, por qualquer meio convencional ou eletrônico, para fins de estudo e pesquisa, desde que citada a fonte. Catalogação na Publicação Serviço de Biblioteca e Documentação Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas da Universidade de São Paulo Piza, Adriana Toledo P695t The Buddhist Concept of Selflessness According to Je Tsongkhapa / Adriana Toledo Piza ; orientador João Vergílio Gallerani Cuter. - São Paulo, 2019. 180 f. Tese (Doutorado)- Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas da Universidade de São Paulo. Departamento de Filosofia. Área de concentração: Filosofia. 1. Filosofia. I. Cuter, João Vergílio Gallerani, orient. II. Título. UNIVERSIDADE DE SÃO PAULO FACULDADE DE F FACULDADE DE FILOSOFIA, LETRAS E CIÊNCIAS HUMANAS ENTREGA DO EXEMPLAR CORRIGIDO DA DISSERTAÇÃO/TESE Termo de Ciência e Concordância do (a) orientador (a) Nome do (a) aluno (a): Adriana Toledo Piza Data da defesa: 22 / 02 / 2019 Nome do Prof. (a) orientador (a): Prof. Dr. João Vergílio Gallerani Cuter Nos termos da legislação vigente, declaro ESTAR CIENTE do conteúdo deste EXEMPLAR CORRIGIDO elaborado em atenção às sugestões dos membros da comissão Julgadora na sessão de defesa do trabalho, manifestando-me plenamente favorável ao seu encaminhamento e publicação no Portal Digital de Teses da USP. São Paulo, 20 / 04 / 2019 ___________________________________________________ (Assinatura do (a) orientador (a) 3 Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincere appreciation, first of all, to my doctoral advisor, Prof. PhD João Vergílio Gallerani Cutter, for his earnest inspiriting and constructive critiques, as well as for his constant support in all possible manners to my endeavors throughout the whole doctorate program. I also wish to express my very deep gratitude to Ven. Gonsar Tulku Rinpoche, Director and principal Professor at the Center for Higher Tibetan Studies Rabten Choeling, in Switzerland, for having guided me through the complexity of Gelug Buddhist philosophy, as well as for his valuable advice and assistance to my efforts for carrying out an academical research on this subject. Special thanks must also go to Ven. Lama Gangchen Tulku Rinpoche, not only for having first introduced me to the writings of Je Tsongkhapa, but also for the unconditional offer of support and encouragement to my engagement towards the deepening of my studies. I am particularly grateful to Marina Simen and Peter Caccivio for their precious financial support, which enabled me to attend lectures and courses both at the Goethe University Frankfurt, in Germany, and at the Center for Higher Tibetan Studies Rabten Choeling, in Switzerland, during the years 2016, 2017 and 2018. I must also thank Prof. PhD Wilhelm Essler, from the Department of Philosophy of the Goethe University Frankfurt, in Germany, for his very productive assistance, and Rosângela Amato, for her precious help in the final revision. And lastly, I express my gratitude to many others who have contributed in different ways for the accomplishment of this project. They are: Fernanda Toledo Piza, Gisele Barroco, Changchub Trinley, Sueli Arcocha, Leo Lang, Ramona Pou Bruch, Francesco Prevosti, Rosie Mehoudar, Monica Guimarães, Geisa dos Santos, Nicole Arndt, Eden Lamdark, Catherine Pleteshner, Hsia Cheng Pei and Ulas Gergin. In conclusion, thanks must be given to CAPES, for the funding of four years of full dedication to the PhD program. 4 Abstract This doctoral research has the purpose of articulating a consistent presentation of the Buddhist concept of selflessness as explained by the great Tibetan Buddhist scholar Tsongkhapa (Tibet, 1357–1419 CE), who composed some major philosophical masterpieces about this key Buddhist concept based on Nāgārjuna´s (India, ca 150–250 CE) famous Mūla-madhyamaka-kārikā (MMK). Tsongkhapa presents himself as a follower of Nāgārjuna, that is, as a proponent of the 'Middle Way' (madhyamaka, dbu ma pa) Buddhist philosophical school. As our study of the first treatise in which he presents his view on selflessness advanced, we realized that it was necessary to dedicate part of our research to the analysis of the epistemological theory that substantiates his explanation of selflessness, since his approach to the subject is based on the use of what he calls 'rational analysis' and 'inferential knowledge'. Therefore, a preliminary part of our thesis is dedicated to the clarification of Tsongkhapa´s conceptions of rational analysis and inferential knowledge, which are based primarily on the theory of 'valid cognition' (pramāna, tshad ma) elaborated centuries earlier by the great Indian scholar Dharmakīrti (6th and 7th centuries CE). The next stage of our research was guided by the following question: since, for Tsongkhapa, not possessing a self means the same as not possessing a nature (svabhāva, rang zhin), a concept upon which Dharmakīrti´s explanation of inferential knowledge is based, how does Tsongkhapa combine his presentation of selflessness with Dharmakīrti´s epistemology without generating internal contradictions in his system? We have concluded that, in Tsongkhapa´s presentation of selflessness as united with causation, that is, as one implying the other due to the introduction of the key distinction between 'inherent nature' and 'mere nature', there is no contradiction between his epistemological use of inferences based on the notion of mere natures (recognized as conventional) and his final ontological assertion that phenomena lack inherent natures. Key-words: Buddhist Philosophy, Madhyamaka, inference, dependent-origination, selflessness. 5 O Conceito Budista de 'Anatma' (Ausência de Identidade) Segundo Je Tsongkhapa Resumo A presente pesquisa de doutoramento tem por finalidade articular uma apresentação consistente do conceito budista de anatma (ausência de identidade) segundo a explicação do grande pensador tibetano Tsongkhapa (Tibete, 1357–1419 D.C.), que compôs relevantes obras filosóficas sobre esse conceito budista fundamental, baseadas no famoso tratado Mūla-madhyamaka-kārikā (MMK) de Nāgārjuna (Índia, ca 150–250 D.C.). Tsongkhapa se apresenta como um seguidor de Nāgārjuna, ou seja, como um proponente da escola de filosofia budista 'Caminho do Meio' (madhyamaka, dbu ma pa). À medida que nosso estudo do primeiro tratado em que ele articula sua visão da noção de anatma (ausência de identidade) se desenvolvia, percebemos que seria necessário dedicar parte de nossa pesquisa à análise da teoria epistemológica que fundamenta sua explicação da 'ausência de identidade' (dos fenômenos), visto que sua abordagem baseia-se na utilização do que ele chama de 'análise racional' e 'conhecimento por inferência'. Dessa forma, a primeira parte de nossa tese é dedicada à compreensão das noções de 'análise racional' e 'conhecimento por inferência' usadas por Tsongkhapa, que se baseiam principalmente na teoria sobre as 'cognições válidas' (pramāna, tshad ma), elaborada séculos antes pelo grande pensador indiano Dharmakīrti (séculos VI e VII). A etapa seguinte de nosso trabalho teve como fio-condutor a seguinte questão: visto que, para Tsongkhapa, a ausência de identidade (anatma, dak me) significa o mesmo que não ser dotado de uma 'natureza' (svabhāva, rang zhin), conceito sobre o qual a explicação de Dharmakīrti do conhecimento por inferência se baseia, como Tsongkhapa elabora conceitualmente a articulação da epistemologia de Dharmakīrti com sua explicação da ausência de identidade dos fenômenos sem gerar contradições internas em seu sistema? Concluímos que, na apresentação de Tsongkhapa, em que a noção de causalidade passa a implicar a de 'ausência de identidade' devido à introdução da distinção essencial entre 'natureza inerente' e 'mera natureza', não há contradição entre seu uso epistemológico de inferências baseadas na noção de 'meras naturezas' (reconhecidas como convencionais) e sua afirmação ontológica final da ausência de natureza inerente nos fenômenos. Palavras-chave: filosofia budista, Madhyamaka, inferência, origem-dependente, ausência de identidade. 6 Technical Note Transliterated Sanskrit words mentioned throughout this work were not transliterated by us. They were taken from the translations by John D. Dunne and Th. Stcherbatsky, from the Tibetan- English Dictionary of Buddhist Terminology by Tsepak Rigzin (which provides the original Sanskrit terms of their Tibetan correspondent translations) and from the The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy online. Transliterated Tibetan words were transliterated by us, using the Extended Wylie Transliteration Scheme (www.thlib.org/reference/transliteration/#!essay=/thl/ewts). 7 Table of Contents Part One: Introduction Chapter I – General Introduction to this Work 10 Chapter II – General Historical Introduction to Buddhist Philosophy 18 Part Two: Je Tsongkhapa´s Philosophical Background Chapter I – Introduction 30 Chapter II – General Buddhist Ontology
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