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Tibetan Studies in Japan(H. Nakamura)
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have been composed between c. 1027-c. 1087 A. D.
In Tibet a terrible rite (called sgrol, bsgral-las or gsad-las) of killing a man: by curse (abhicāra) for the sake of personal religious emancipation was instituted. It was set forth in the Vajrabhairava-tantra, and was established by Rwa the
(38) Interpreter (c. 1550-1110-).
(39) The Lamaist method of study consists principally of memorization of basic texts and mutual examination by the question-answer method. The five courses are as follows: 1) logic (based on Dharmakirti's Pramāņavārttika), 2) Prajñāpāramitā (based on the Abhisamayalankāra), 3) Mādhyamika (based on the Madhyamakahşdaya), 4) Abhidharma (based on the Abhidharmakośa), and 5) Vinaya (based on Guņaprabha's Vinayasūtra). However, all of Buddhism was regarded as a single unit, according to Tshon-kha-pa. The point of unification is Prajñāpāramita-Mäd. hyamika thought.
Texts of Buddhist idealism, e. g. Vivítaguhyarthapinda-vyakhya, were also stu. died in Tibet.
The formulae of Indian logic were applied to debates and developed in a minute way. Among the Mādhyamika texts Candrakīrti's Madhyamakāvatāra is most studied
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There took place frequent intercourse between Tibet and Tang. Chinese influence upon Tibetan Buddhism is noticeable. To illustarate, the figure of the Sixteen
(45) Arhats (+ ) was introduced into Tibet in the Tang period. The process of samatha was compared to that of taming a cow by some Chinese Zen teachers. In: Tibet the figure of taming an elephant in comparison to śamatha came to be composed after the 16 th or 17 th century. It is not yet clear whether it was influenced by the Chinese.
Tibetan texts occasionally throw light on the obscure aspects of Chinese Buddhism. 12, a disciple of Hiouen Tsang, wrote a 10 volume commentary on the Sandhinirmocanasūtra, of which the tenth volume and part of the eighth volume came to be lost. Prof. Inaba restored the lost parts into classical Chinese from the Tibetan version; this is a wonderful masterpiece of Japanese scholarship.
As the salient characteristics of the Tibetan ways of thinking the following can be mentioned: 1) weakness of conscionsness of association among individuals, 2) absolute submission to a charismatic religious individual, 3) absolute adherence to the Lamaistic social order, 4) Shamanistic tendencies, 5) logical tendency along Tibetan lines. For the studies of Lamaism the Vajrayāna of Mongolia should also be taken
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