The two truths: A study of Madhyamika philosophy as presented in the monastic textbooks of the Ge-luk-ba order of Tibetan Buddhism

This is a study of the two truths--concealer-truth (kun rdzob bden pa, samvrti-satya) and ultimate truth (don dam bden pa, paramartha-satya)--in the Prasangika-Madhyamika system as presented by the monastic textbooks of the Ge-luk-ba order of Tibetan Buddhism. In the system of Dzong-ka-ba (tsong ka pa, 1357-1419), founder of Ge-luk-ba, an ultimate truth is an emptiness (stong pa nyid, sunyata), i.e., an absence of inherent existence; all other phenomena are concealer-truths. The dissertation includes translations of pertinent extracts from: Chandrakirti's Supplement and its auto-commentary, and textbooks by Jam-yang-shay-ba (1648-1742) and Jay-dzun Cho-gyi-gyel-tsen (1469-1546).;We give special attention to issues on which the textbook authors disagree, exploring how these controversies illuminate the dialectic between the authority of scriptural sources and the authority of the reason.;The fundamentals of Dzong-ka-ba's interpretation of the two truths are intact in every Ge-luk-ba textbook on Madhyamika. This dissertation explains each of these points in detail: (1) The two truths are mutually exclusive and are a dichotomous division of objects of knowledge (shes bya, jneya), i.e., all existents. (2) The two truths, although mutually exclusive, are a single entity. (3) The term "concealer-truth" indicates that conventional phenomena are truths (bden pa, satya) only for the perspective of an ignorant consciousness that conceals reality. In fact, conventional phenomena are not truths, but are falsities (rdzun pa, mrsa) because they do not exist as they appear. (4) Nonetheless, concealer-truths are objects found by conventional valid cognition, while ultimate truths are objects found by ultimate valid cognition. (5) Concealer-truths cannot be divided into real (yang dag, tathya) and unreal (log pa, mithya) because they are all unreal and false. However, they can be divided into those that are real in relation to a worldly perspective and those that are unreal in relation to a worldly perspective. (6) Buddha Superiors are omniscient: they simultaneously, explicitly, and without confusion cognize all concealer-truths and all ultimate truths.