Taranatha

Depiction of Taranathas from the 18th century

Taranatha ( Tib .: tA ra nA tha ; * 1575 in Drong ; † 1634 ) was an important author and lama of the Jonang School of Tibetan Buddhism .

Life

Taranatha was recognized by Khenchen Lungrig Gyatsho (tib .: mkhan chen lung rig rgya mtsho ; 16th century) as the Trülku of his former teacher Jetsün Künga Drölchog (tib .: rje btsun kun dga 'grol mchog ; 1507-1565 / 1566). He was instructed in the teachings of Jonang, Kadam , Shalu , Sakya , Shangpa and Kamtshang-Kagyu ( Wangchug Dorje ). Furthermore, Taranatha et al. a. Disciple of the Indian monk Pandita Buddhanatha .

In 1615 Taranatha founded the Tagten Phüntshog Ling monastery (Tib .: rtag brtan phun tshogs gling ) in Tsang , which was a main center of the Jonangpa until 1650.

Shortly after the founding of Tagten Phüntshog Ling, Taranatha is said to have left Tibet and gone to Mongolia , which is historically controversial, since almost nothing is known about his years there.

The tradition that Taranatha died in Mongolia in 1634 can be seen as an essential basis for the "appropriation" of Jonang Taranatha for the Gelugpa under the 5th Dalai Lama . The 5th Dalai Lama proclaimed Taranatha as a manifestation of the hugely popular Bodhisattva Manjushri , thereby securing the benevolence of the Khalkha . By recognizing the 1st Khalkha Jetsün Dampa as the reincarnation of Taranatha, he deprived the Sakyapa and Jonangpa of the opportunity to determine this incarnation sequence themselves and to use Taranatha's prestige for themselves. By taking care of his ordination and training, the Penchen Lama and the Dalai Lama made him a Gelugpa teacher.

According to Giuseppe Tucci , Taranatha's body was traditionally thrown into a river and is said to have drifted back to Tibet. A large silver chorten in Dzingji to contain the remains Taranathas.

Works

Among Taranatha's numerous contributions to Tibetan literature , his basic work on the history of Buddhism in India (Tib .: rgya gar chos' byung ) , published in 1608, is particularly well known. Other works include a. an autobiography , a story of Kalachakra tantra, a story of Tara worship, and a work on the "five teachings of Maitreya ". The Jonang Foundation has created catalogs of two different editions of his collected works.

literature

Jeffrey Hopkins: The Essence of Other-Emptiness. ByTāranātha. Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2007.
Klaus-Dieter Mathes: Tāranātha's Twenty-One Differences with regard to the Profound Meaning - Comparing the Views of the Two gŹan stoṅ Masters Dolpopa and Śakya mchog ldan. in: Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Vol. 27, No. 2, 2004, 285-328.
Klaus-Dieter Mathes: Tāranātha's Presentation of trisvabhāva in the gŹan stoṅ sñiṅ po. In: Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Vol. 23, No. 2, 2000, 105-125.
Rolf Scheuermann: The gZhan stong dbu ma'i rgyan of the rJe btsun Tāranātha Kun dga 'snying po. Diploma thesis, University of Vienna, 2010.
Tāranātha's History of Buddhism in India. Translated from the Tibetan by Anton Schiefner. St. Petersburg: quays. Academy of Sciences 1869. XII. St. Petersburg 1869. PDF (11.4 MB)
Tāranātha's Gem Mine, the book of the mediators of the seven inspirations / from the Tibetan transl. by Albert Grünwedel. - Petrograd: Imprimerie de l'Académie Impériale des Sciences, 1914 PDF (14 MB)
Tharanatha; Chattopadhyaya, Chimpa, Alaka, trans. (2000). History of Buddhism in India, Motilal Books UK, ISBN 8120806964 .