Ontology, Method, Realm

Tibetan Buddhism is an important part of Chinese Buddhism. Since the foundation of New China, many achievements of great significance concerning studies on Tibetan Buddhism have been made, which has deepened and expanded the connotation and extension of studies on Tibetan Buddhism. However, most of those studies emphasize particularly on the history and succession of Tibetan Buddhism, but few of them conduct studies on Tibetan Buddhism from the point of view of ideological history. Consequently, there are lack of research achievements systematically differentiating, analyzing, and excavating Tibetan Buddhism from the point of view of teaching thoughts and mediating ways till now. That is to say, studies on the ideological history of Tibetan Buddhism is not only an important content to further enrich studies of the ideological history of the Chinese Nation, but also an outstanding part to further perfect studies on local histories of Tibet and other Tibetan-inhabited areas. The degree thesis is aimed at studying the topic of "the stages of the Path to enlightenment" in the expansive background of the complete context of ideological history of Tibetan Buddhism based on the overall situation of ideological history of Tibetan Buddhism. If the thesis can be a useful brick for the researching mansion of ideological history of Tibetan Buddhism, the author's objective will be accomplished. Concerning concrete studying ways, there are many researching ways of Tibetan Buddhism formed in the past century, such as philology, history, culture, ideological history, archaeology, sociology, art, etc. The thesis is a thought text devoted to studying of individual case of Tibetan Buddhism on the level of philosophy or ideological history. Concretely speaking, the thesis is a philosophic review focusing on the object of the Jewel Ornament of Liberation written by Guru Gampopa (Sgam po pa) from Kagyupa of Tibetan Buddhism. Firstly, through the comparison of the text of the Jewel Ornament of Liberation in Tibetan and Chinese, the author annotates and unfolds main idea and content of original facts of thoughts of each chapter of the Book, which is an interaction between the research object and the researcher. Secondly, after unfolding the textualcontent of the Jewel Ornament of Liberation as well as a philosophic study, the author use the way of historical textual research to probe into the thought of "the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment", namely the main idea of the Jewel Ornament of Liberation, especially emphasizing on its origin, development, status and role in the history of Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism.Concerning studies of ideological history of Tibetan Buddhism, annotation, revivification, unscrambling, analysis and combination have become the pre-conditional and basic work of studies on Tibetan Buddhism. But regarding the current domestic situation of studies on Tibetan Buddhism, there exists no monograph that systematically unscrambles historical documents about ideological history of Tibetan Buddhism till now. The thesis uses the noumenon, way and compass of the philosophy to find a way of research, uses framework ideas to annotate and rebuild various important elements in the Book's 21 chapters, puts forward the noumenon thought reflected from Chapter one to Chapter three of the Book, namely the noumenon of thought; the meaning of methodology reflected from Chapter four to seventeen; tropism of compass reflected from Chapter eighteen to twenty-one. Based on that, the author indicates: Chapter one introduces the inner gene or essence to enlightenment, which is the first-level, common and everlasting essence to enlightenment; Chapter two expatiates on the inner noumenon and base to enlightenment, which is regarded as the second-level essence or special essence. Chapter three focuses on the outside condition to enlightenment. Only with the combination of the inner gene, inner base and outside condition can form the noumenon to enlightenment. The idea proposed by the author seems seldom in domestic academic circle.The innovations of the thesis are shown as follows:(1) putting forward the point that the Jewel Ornament of Liberation by Gampopa is an encyclopaedia-styled innovated textbook of Tibetan Buddhism that is composed of primitive religion, Mahayana, Hinayana, Middle way, gnosis of Tathagata and logic, and the amalgamation is notcompletely and simply copying word for word but absorbing prime contents and comprehensive innovation after comparison and selection.(2) concerning the origin of Great Gesture of the Tantric, in the past, some scholars believe that it is undoubted that Great Gesture of the Tantric originates from India, but the author indicates that Great Gesture of the Tantric originates from the famous Tibetan scholar Gampopa. Based on certain historical materials, the author proposes that the problem is still in dispute in the history of Tibetan Buddhism, and as a rather heavy and complicated problem from its name to content, Great Gesture of the Tantric needs to be further studied and proved.(3) concerning Chapter seventeen of the Jewel Ornament of Liberation—Prajnaparamitahrdayasutra, namely the Wisdom Sutra, the author indicates that Gampopa divides the wisdom into three kinds--secular wisdom(namely five luminaries), low-grade spiritual wisdom and high-grade spiritual wisdom. And the author finds its theoretical basis in Mahayana-sutralamkara in Chinese.(4) the thesis points that Gampopa organically combines the Tathagatagarbha in the Uttara Tantra and the five natures in Cittamatrin and makes efforts to innovate the two thoughts, which fully shows that Gampopa is of great capability to master various thoughts of different schools of Buddhism.