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[[File:Kamalashila .jpg|thumb|right|Kamalashila, born in 740 in [[India]], is the main disciple of the great abbot "[[Śāntarakṣita]]" and became the 12th Abbot of Nalanda University. He was known for his meditation treaties, died in 795, [[Tibet]]. ]]
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{{Tibetan Buddhism}}

'''Kamalaśīla''' (Skt. Kamalaśīla; Tib. པདྨའི་ངང་ཚུལ་, Pemé Ngang Tsul; Wyl. pad+ma'i ngang tshul)<ref>{{cite web|last1=Shedra|first1=Rigpa|title=Kamalashila|url=http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Kamalashila|website=Rigpa Wiki|access-date=15 December 2017}}</ref> (c. 740-795) was an Indian Buddhist of [[Nalanda]] [[Mahavihara]] who accompanied [[Śāntarakṣita]] (725–788)<ref>Blumenthal, James (2008). "Śāntarakṣita", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2008 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.). Source: [http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2008/entries/saantarak-sita/] (accessed: 28 February 2009).</ref> to Tibet at the request of [[Trisong Detsen]].

==Lineage==
Dargyay, ''et al.'' (1977, 1998: p. 7) convey a lineage of transmission and translation of [[Śīla]], [[Sutrayana]] [[Buddhavacana]] and the Six [[Pāramitā]] (viewed principally through the [[Mahayana]] teachings of [[Nagarjuna]]), from India to Tibet ([[pandita (Buddhism)|pandit]] in this context denotes a [[Sanskrit]] scholar):
{{quote|The Indian pandits, represented mainly by Śāntarakṣita, Kamalaśīla, and his disciple Ye-śes-dbang-po, form a known group. These scholars were all defenders of the ''Madhyamaka'' school, which is based upon Nāgārjuna's teachings. First of all, however, they taught the ten rules of behaviour of the Buddhist ethics (śīla) and a summary of the teachings according to the canonic [[Sutra|Sūtras]] of the Mahāyāna, as well as the virtuous works of the six ''pāramitās''. These exercises are supposed to lead, in a long seemingly endless way, to the gradual ascent to the acquisition of higher intellectual abilities finally culminating in Buddhahood. This trend was intensified after the debate of bSam-yas had taken place in the years 792 to 794; the exact outcome of this debate is still debatable.<ref>Dargyay, Eva M. (author) & Wayman, Alex (editor) (1977, 1998). ''The Rise of Esoteric Buddhism in Tibet''. Second revised edition, reprint. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt Ltd. Buddhist Tradition Series Vol. 32. {{ISBN|81-208-1579-3}} (paper), p.7</ref>}}

==Debate of Samye==
{{Main|Samye Debate}}
In 793 Trisong Detsen resolved that [[Moheyan]] did not hold the true [[dharma]]. Following intense protests from Moheyan's supporters, Trisong Detsen proposed to settle the matter by sponsoring a debate, the "Council of [[Lhasa]]", although it may actually have taken place at [[Samye]], a considerable distance from Lhasa. Kamalaśila was invited to represent [[Vajrayana]] while Moheyan represented the [[East Mountain Teaching]] of [[Chan Buddhism]]. Most Tibetan sources state that the debate was decided in Kamalaśīla's favour (though many Chinese sources claim Moheyan won)<ref name="Powers3844">Powers 2004, pp. 38–44</ref> and Moheyan was required to leave the country and that all sudden-enlightenment texts were gathered and destroyed by royal decree. This was a pivotal event in the history of [[Tibetan Buddhism]], which would afterward continue to follow the late Indian model with only minor influence from China.{{sfn|Yamaguchi|1997}} Moheyan's teachings were a mixture of the East Mountain Teachings{{refn|group=note|Chinese: 東山法門 ''tung-shan fa-men''; given the appellation of "Northern School" Chan by Shenhui (670–762)}} associated with [[Yuquan Shenxiu]] and with the teachings of [[Baotang Wuzhu]].{{sfn|Hanson-Barber|1985}}

===The Cham dance===
There is a [[Cham dance]] that retells the story of the Council of Lhasa related to the teachings of [[Chöd]]. Moheyan is generally depicted as of ample girth, goaded by children.<ref>An iconographic [[thangka]] depiction of Moheyan is held in the SAMA collection and may be seen here {{cite web |url=http://kaladarshan.arts.ohio-state.edu/exhib/sama/arh/pgs/T1016M.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=2009-06-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080720154139/http://kaladarshan.arts.ohio-state.edu/exhib/sama/arh/pgs/T1016M.html |archive-date=20 July 2008 |df=dmy-all }} (accessed: 14 January 2008)</ref> Chöd is a product of both the Indian and Chinese transmissions of Buddhism into the [[Himalayas]]. For a discussion of the [[Dunhuang]] fulcrum of the entwined relationship of Chinese and Indian Buddhism see van Schaik and Dalton (2004).<ref>[[Sam van Schaik|van Schaik, Sam]] and Dalton, Jacob (2004). "Where Chan and Tantra Meet: Buddhist Syncretism in Dunhuang" in Whitfield, Susan (ed) (2004). ''The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith''. London: British Library Press. 61–71.</ref>

For simplicity, the Vajrayana transmission may be characterised as "gradual" ({{bo|w=rim gyis 'jug pa}}; Chinese: ''dunwu'') and the Chan as "direct" ({{bo|w=cig car gyi 'jug pa}}; Chinese: ''jianwu'').<ref>van Schaik, Sam (2007). ''The Great Perfection and the Chinese Monk: rNyingmapa defences of Hwashang Mahāyāna in the Eighteenth Century.'' Source: [http://earlytibet.com/author/hashang/#_ftn2] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070829210848/http://earlytibet.com/author/hashang/ |date=29 August 2007 }} (accessed: 14 January 2007)</ref> It needs to be emphasised that this neat [[dichotomy]] in characterisation of these two approaches is only valid for the historical context of the great debate between Kamalaśīla and Moheyan and even then it is still open to [[dialectic]].

According to the lore of the orthodox, prevailing Tibetan cultural tradition, Kamalaśīla, a scholar educated at [[Nalanda]], advocated the "gradual" process to enlightenment; whereas, Moheyan, as a [[trance]] and [[meditation]] master, advocated the "direct" awakening of original mind through the [[Nirodha sacca|nirodha]] of discursive thought, the cessation of the mind of [[ideation (idea generation)|ideation]]. The historicity of this debate has been drawn into question by Tucci & Heissig (1970),<ref>Dargyay, Eva M. (author) & Wayman, Alex (editor) (1977, 1998). ''The Rise of Esoteric Buddhism in Tibet''. Second revised edition, reprint. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt Ltd. Buddhist Tradition Series Vol. 32. {{ISBN|81-208-1579-3}} (paper), p.74, note 21.</ref> Gomez (1983)<ref>Gomez, Luis O. (1983). "The Direct and Gradual Approaches of Zen Master Mahāyāna: Fragments of the Teachings of Moheyan" in: Gimello, Robert M. and Peter N. Gregory (eds), ''Studies in Chan and Hua-yen''. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press: 393–434.</ref> and Ruegg (1992)<ref>Ruegg, D. Seyfort (1992). ''Buddha-nature, Mind and the Problem of Gradualism in a Comparative Perspective: On the Transmission and Reception of Buddhism in India and Tibet''. London: School of Oriental and African Studies.</ref> though this does not lessen its importance in defining the religious and cultural traditions of Tibet.<ref>van Schaik, Sam (2007). ''The Great Perfection and the Chinese Monk: rNyingmapa defences of Hwashang Mahāyāna in the Eighteenth Century.'' Source: [http://earlytibet.com/author/hashang/#_ftn2] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070829210848/http://earlytibet.com/author/hashang/ |date=29 August 2007 }} (accessed: 14 January 2007)</ref> Kamalaśīla was very handsome and a great orator and historically "won" the debate: though there are conflicting primary sources and secondary accounts.

One hagiography asserts that directly after this debate with Moheyan, as Kamalaśīla was making his way down from the Himalaya to the Indian lowlands, he was incited to enact [[phowa]] through compassionate duress, transferring his [[mindstream]] to animate a corpse polluted with a dangerous [[infection]] and thereby safely moving the hazard it presented to a nearby community. As the mindstream of Kamalaśīla was otherwise engaged, a [[mahasiddha]] by the name of [[Dampa Sangye]] came across the vacant body of Kamalaśīla. Padampa Sangye was not karmically blessed with an aesthetic corporeal form, and upon finding the very handsome and healthy empty body of Kamalaśīla, which he perceived as a newly-dead fresh corpse, transferred his mindstream into Kamalaśīla's body. Padampa Sangye's mindstream in Kamalaśīla's body continued the ascent to the Himalaya and thereby transmitted the Chöd.

The mindstream of Kamalaśīla, upon endeavouring to return to his body, was unable to do so and resorted by necessity to the vacant body of Padampa Sangye.<ref>Thrangu, Khenchen & Klonk, Christoph (translator) & Hollmann, Gaby (editor and annotator) (2006). [http://www.rinpoche.com/teachings/chod.htm Chod – The Introduction & A Few Practices] (accessed: 28 September 2008)</ref> The mindstream of Padampa Sangye continued in this body, and it is in this handsome body that the transmission of Chöd was made to [[Machig Labdrön]], his consort.<ref>Source: [http://lionsroar.name/tantric_glossary.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130111603/http://lionsroar.name/tantric_glossary.htm |date=30 January 2016 }} (Thursday, 5 November 2007)</ref>

==Works==
===Trilogy of ''Stages of Meditation'' (''bhāvanākrama'')===
Kamalaśīla is renowned for writing three texts, all called ''[[Bhāvanākrama]]'' (''Stages of Meditation''), which summarize and build upon aspects of the [[Yogacara]] tradition of [[Asanga]], particularly as pertaining to aspects of meditation practice and mental cultivation ([[bhavana]]).<ref>Adam, Martin T. (2003). [http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/-?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=82812&current_base=GEN01 Meditation and the concept of insight in Kamalaśīla's Bhāvanākramas], Montreal: McGill Univ., Dissertation (includes translations)</ref> The first volume was translated into Classic Chinese.<ref>[http://www.cbeta.org/result/T32/T32n1664.htm 廣釋菩提心論] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908222914/http://www.cbeta.org/result/T32/T32n1664.htm |date=8 September 2012 }}</ref>

===Commentary on Madhyamālaṃkāra===
<small>'''(Sanskrit: Madhyamālaṃkāra-panjika, Wylie: dbu ma rgyan gyi dka' 'grel)'''</small><br />
''Commentary on Difficult Points'' (Sanskrit: Madhyamālaṃkāra-panjika, Wylie: dbu ma rgyan gyi dka' 'grel) by Kamalaśīla

==See also==
*[[Nagarjuna]]
*[[Bhāvanākrama]]

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|author1=Kamalaśīla|author2=Kiyotaka Goshima|title=The Tibetan Text of the Second Bhāvanākrama|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tI38mgEACAAJ|year=1983|publisher=Goshima Kiyotaka}}
* {{cite book|author=Kamalaśīla|title=Bhāvanākramaḥ: Tibetan version, Sanskrit restoration and Hindi translation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QtEIcgAACAAJ|year=1997|publisher=Central Inst. of Higher Tibetan studies}}
* {{cite book|author=Kamalaśīla|title=Bhāvanākrama of Kamalaśila: Transl. Into English by Parmananda Sharma|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ytMnPQAACAAJ|year=1997|publisher=Aditya Prakashan|isbn=978-81-86471-15-9}}
* {{cite book|author=Kamalaśīla|title=The Stages of Meditation: Bhāvanākrama II. Middle volume |translator=Geshe Lhundup Sopa |translator2=Elvin W. Jones |translator3=John Newman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bE5xmgEACAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Deer Park Books}}
* {{cite book|author=Shūki Yoshimura|title=Tibetan Buddhistology: Introductory notes: Bhāvanākrama|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SeEKAAAAYAAJ|year=1953|publisher=Research Society for the Eastern Sacred Books, Ryukoku University}}
* {{cite book|author=Kamalaśīla|title=Kamalashila: The Stages of Meditation, Bhavanakrama II (online text)|url=http://www.sangye.it/altro/?p=433|publisher=Dharma Teachings Project|year=2007}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|1}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Citation | last=Hanson-Barber | first =A. W. | year =1985 | title='No-Thought' in Pao-T'ang Ch'an and Early Ati-Yoga | journal=Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies | volume=8| issue = 2 | pages=61–73}}
*Tucci, G. and Heissig, W. (1970). ''Die Religionen Tibets und der Mongolei''. Stuttgart.
* {{Citation | last =Yamaguchi | first =Zuihō | year =1997 | title =The Core Elements of Indian Buddhism Introduced into Tibet'. In: Jamie Hubbard and Paul L. Swanson (ed.), ''Pruning the Bodhi Tree: The Storm over Critical Buddhism'' | place=Honolulu | publisher =University of Hawai'i Press | isbn =978-0-8248-1949-1}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [https://www.wisdomlib.org/buddhism/book/tattvasangraha-english The Tattvasangraha (with commentary)] English translation by Ganganatha Jha, 1937 (includes glossary)

{{Buddhism topics}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Indian Buddhist monks]]
[[Category:Ancient Indian philosophers]]
[[Category:Indian scholars of Buddhism]]
[[Category:Madhyamaka scholars]]
[[Category:History of Tibetan Buddhism]]
[[Category:Buddhist logic]]
[[Category:Indian logicians]]
[[Category:8th-century Indian philosophers]]
[[Category:Scholars from Bihar]]
[[Category:Monks of Nalanda]]

Kamalaśīla - Revision history

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