Renowned Madhyamaka master belonging to Candrakīrti's lineage, he wrote several commentaries of Candragomin and Haribhadra's works, but those texts seem no more available.
Depending on the sources, he was either the gatekeeper of the Western Gate of Nalanda when Naropa was living there (chos 'byung mkhas pa'i dga' ston, vol. 2, p. 323 / 1175), or the gatekeeper of the Western Gate of Vikramashila when Naropa was in charge of the Northern Gate (deb ther sngon po; vol. 1, p. 295). (Source Accessed Jan 22, 2020) His Bodhicaryāvatārapañjikā is considered to be the most important Indian commentary on the Bodhicaryāvatāra by Śāntideva.
On the topic of this person
Buddha-Nature and Emptiness
An essential study of a key text that presents buddha-nature theory and its transmission from India to Tibet, this book is the most thorough history of buddha-nature thought in Tibet and is exceptional in its level of detail and scholarly apparatus. It serves as a scholarly encyclopedia of sorts with extensive appendices listing every existent commentary on the Ratnagotravibhāga (Uttaratantraśāstra), as well as covering Ngok Lotsawa's commentarial text and his philosophical positions related with other Tibetan thinkers.
Kano, Kazuo. Buddha-Nature and Emptiness: rNgog Blo-ldan-shes-rab and A Transmission of the Ratnagotravibhāga from India to Tibet. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 91. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien Universität Wien, 2016.
Kano, Kazuo. Buddha-Nature and Emptiness: rNgog Blo-ldan-shes-rab and A Transmission of the Ratnagotravibhāga from India to Tibet. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 91. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien Universität Wien, 2016.;Buddha-Nature and Emptiness;Buddha-nature as Emptiness;History;History of buddha-nature in Tibet;Madhyamaka;Ngok Tradition;Textual study;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Tibetan Buddhism;Theg chen rgyud bla ma'i don bsdus pa;Sajjana;Rngog blo ldan shes rab;Geluk;Maitrīpa;Jñānaśrīmitra;Ratnākaraśānti;Prajñākaramati;Vibhūticandra;Kazuo Kano; Ngok Lotsāwa Loden Sherab;རྔོག་བློ་ལྡན་ཤེས་རབ་;rngog blo ldan shes rab;rngog lo tsA ba;lo chen blo ldan shes rab;blo ldan shes rab;རྔོག་ལོ་ཙཱ་བ་;ལོ་ཆེན་བློ་ལྡན་ཤེས་རབ་;Ngok Lotsāwa;Ngok Loden Sherab;Lochen Loden Sherab;Loden Sherab;Buddha-Nature and Emptiness: rNgog Blo-ldan-shes-rab and A Transmission of the Ratnagotravibhāga from India to Tibet;rngog blo ldan shes rab
The Reflexive Nature of Awareness (2000)
According to the Tibetan Tsong Kha pa one of the eight difficult points in understanding Madhyamaka philosophy is the way in which Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka does not accept even conventionally that reflexivity is an essential part of awareness — that in being aware there is also an awareness of being aware (rang rig). One of the most sysyematic and detailed refutations of Tsong kha pa's approach to this issue can be found in the commentary to the ninth chapter of the Bodhicaryaāvatāra by the rNyingma lama Mi pham (1846–1912), together with Mi pham's own replies to his subsequent critics. In the course of this Mi pham reveals a vision of what is going on in the Madhyamaka which is rather different from the more familiar Tibetan approach of Tsong kha pa.
Paul Williams places this controversy in its Indian and Tibetan context. He traces in detail Mi pham's position in his commentary on the Bodhicaryaāvatāra, the attack of one of his opponents, and his response, as well as indicating ways in which this controversy over the nature of awareness may be important within the context of Mi pham's rNyingma heritage of rDzogs chen thought and practice.
This book is the first book length study of its subject, and also includes a reprint of a previous paper by Williams on the reflexive nature of awareness, as well as the relevant Tibetan texts from Mi pham. The book will be of interest to all students of Indian and Tibetan Madhyamaka, as well as associated areas of Buddhist thought such as Yogācāra and the philosophy of Dharmakīrti. It will also be of value to those concerned with the intelectual foundations of rDzogs chen. (Source: Back cover of Routledge 2013 edition)
Paul Williams places this controversy in its Indian and Tibetan context. He traces in detail Mi pham's position in his commentary on the Bodhicaryaāvatāra, the attack of one of his opponents, and his response, as well as indicating ways in which this controversy over the nature of awareness may be important within the context of Mi pham's rNyingma heritage of rDzogs chen thought and practice.
This book is the first book length study of its subject, and also includes a reprint of a previous paper by Williams on the reflexive nature of awareness, as well as the relevant Tibetan texts from Mi pham. The book will be of interest to all students of Indian and Tibetan Madhyamaka, as well as associated areas of Buddhist thought such as Yogācāra and the philosophy of Dharmakīrti. It will also be of value to those concerned with the intelectual foundations of rDzogs chen. (Source: Back cover of Routledge 2013 edition)
Williams, Paul. The Reflexive Nature of Awareness: A Tibetan Madhyamaka Defence. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2000. First published 1998 by Curzon Press (Richmond, UK).
Williams, Paul. The Reflexive Nature of Awareness: A Tibetan Madhyamaka Defence. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2000. First published 1998 by Curzon Press (Richmond, UK).;The Reflexive Nature of Awareness (2000);Tsong kha pa;Mi pham rgya mtsho;Madhyamaka;svasaṃvedana;Śāntarakṣita;Prajñākaramati;Paul Williams;The Reflexive Nature of Awareness: A Tibetan Madhyamaka Defence
Mentioned in
A History of Buddha-Nature Theory: The Literature and Traditions
A lengthy historical survey of buddha-nature theory through the literature and traditions, based on academic scholarship.
Gardner, Alex. "A History of Buddha-Nature Theory: The Literature and Traditions." Buddha-Nature: A Tsadra Foundation Initiative, October 9, 2019. https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index.php/Articles/A_History_of_Buddha-Nature_Theory:_The_Literature_and_Traditions.
Gardner, Alex. "A History of Buddha-Nature Theory: The Literature and Traditions." Buddha-Nature: A Tsadra Foundation Initiative, October 9, 2019. https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index.php/Articles/A_History_of_Buddha-Nature_Theory:_The_Literature_and_Traditions.;A History of Buddha-Nature Theory: The Literature and Traditions;History of buddha-nature in China;History of buddha-nature in India;History of buddha-nature in Japan;History of buddha-nature in Tibet;History;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Early Buddhism;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Early Buddhism;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Indian Buddhism;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Japanese Buddhism;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Theravadin Buddhism;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Tibetan Buddhism;Yogācāra;Madhyamaka;Alex Gardner; 
Other names
- shes rab 'byung gnas · other names (Wylie)
