On ascertaining the stuff of dreams: nagarjuna's madhyamaka and taktsang lotsawa's interpretation

Abstract

As a Madhyamaka philosopher, Taktsang Lotsawa Sherab Rinchen (stag tshang lo tsA ba shes rab rin chen) (1405-1477)¹ is perhaps most widely known for his claim to have identified eighteen major contradictions in the thought of Tsongkhapa Losang Drakpa (tsong kha pa blo bzang grags pa) (1357-1419), a polemic discussion that appears in the Madhyamaka chapter of his encyclopedic Freedom from Extremes through Comprehensive Knowledge of Philosophy². In this article we will not pursue this critique, both renowned and infamous, but instead focus on Taktsang Lotsawa's own pragmatic hermeneutics of emptiness in context.