"Neoconservatives? " brill.nl/iij Utility and Futility of Source-Culture Alien Categories Jan-Ulrich Sobisch Asian Department, Copenhagen University Abstract In his influential Tibetan Renaissance (publ. 2005), Ronald Davidson categorizes the two eminent masters of the late 12th and early 13th centuries, Sa-skya PaJ}9.ita Kun-dga' -rgyal-mtshan and 'Bri-gung 'Jig-rten-mgon-po, as "neoconservatives," portraying them as having an un-Buddhist and inauthentic fixation on India, and as working to suppress any deviation from their norms. This paper critically investigates Davidson's general and specific interpretations of his categorization and raises the question of methodology. Koninklijke Brill NY, Leiden, 2010. Keywords Tibet, Buddhism, sa-skya-pa, 'bri-gung-pa Introduction Among the most important Buddhist masters of the late 12th and early 13th centuries are Sa-skya PaJ:!9.itaKun-dga'-rgyal-mtshan (1182-1251) and thefounder of the,Bri-gung bKa'-brgyud-pa tradition, 'Jig-rten-mgon- po (II43-1217). Sa-paJ:!is well known to a wider audience both as an important figure in the history of Tibet and as one of its greatest schol- ars. English translations of his Entrance Gate for the Wise, 1 A Clear Differ- entiation of the Three Codes,2 and Ordinary Wisdom: Sakya Pandita's Trea- sury of Good Advice 3 have been available for some time now, and his life 1) Gold (2007) andJackson (1987). 2) Rhoton (2002). 3) Thelatest translation isDavenport (2000). Koninklijke Brill NY, LeiJen, 2010 DOl: 1O.[[63/0019724IOX12686674794376 24 Jan-Ulrich Sobisch / Indo-Iranian Journal 53 (20IO) 23-33 and works have been explored by academics for decades. 'Jig-rten-mgon- po, on the other hand, is much less well known, and only a few works havevery recently become available in German translation. 4 To the expert, these two have always been prominent protagonists of their times-and certainly antagonists, asmany of the topics presented in Sa-paJis Clear Dif ferentiation, for instance, appear (at least on first sight) to be direct replies to some of the views expressed in 'Jig-rten-mgon-po's Same Intention. 5 Not only dothey maintain innumerous instances opposed views, their strategies of maintaining and transmitting the Dharma, too, are in sharp contrast. 6 It thus came as asurprise to find Sa-PalJ and 'Jig-rten-mgon-po grouped into thesamecategory of "neoconservatives" in Ronald Davidson's Tibetan Renaissance,! and the present note is an attempt to investigate the appro- priateness and usefulness of such acharacterization in this particular case. I end with abrief reflection on the general utility of such terminology. Tibetan Neoconservatism in Tibetan Renaissance The choice of the term "neoconservative" by a North-American author publishing in 2005, i.e. in the middle of the second term of the 43rd pres- ident of the United States, whose foreign policy was often described as 4) Seefor example Sobisch (2006) and Schmidt (2008). 5) TheTibetan titleof theSame Intention isDam chosdgongspa gcigpa. A direct link between the Same Intention and the Clear Diffirentiation is chronologically difficult to establish. According to the biography of Shes-rab-'byung-gnas, the nephew and chief disciple of 'Jig- rten-mgon-po (published in the dGongs gcigyig cha, Bir: Tsondu Senghe, 1975), the uncle had taught the topics of the Same Intention as aspecial teaching to his nephew in private during the last period of his life. After the master's death in 1217, Shes-rab-'byung-gnas went into along retreat at Ti-se and only returned to 'Bri-gung in 1225. In the winter of the next year he is said to havevery briefly met Sa-palj in bSam-yas. In that summer he taught the Same Intention for the first time in apublic teaching. The composition of Sa- paJjs Clear Differentiation was, according to its colophon, finished sixyears later in 1232. Wesimply don't knowwhen the first copies of 'Jig-rten-mgon-po's work began to circulate, but it appears to be unlikely that the Clear Diffirentiation was adirect reply to that text (Sa-palj himself never identifies anopponent byname). I havefound, however, many of the topics taught in the Same Intention formulated inmany other teachings of 'Jig-rten-mgon- po, and it seems quite likely that Sa-palj had gained his knowledge through these earlier teachings, which might havecirculated more openly or might havebeen reported to him. For afewremarks on the Same Intention (dGongspa gcigpal seeMartin (1997), 263- 305, van der Kuijp (1987), 57-70, Uu (2002); Sobisch (2002), ch. 14. TheSame Intention is now the focus of aresearch project by Khenpo Rangdrol and myself, seehttp://freenet- homepage.de/jigten-sumgon/ . 6) Seemy reviewof Gold's book (forthcoming 2009a). 7) Davidson 205. Jan-Ulrich Sobisch / Indo-Iranian Journal 53 (20IO) 23-33 being under a neoconservative influence, is unlikely to be an accident. I leave it to the judgment of the reader whether a term originally coined for apolitical ideology of 20th century North-America isin general terms applicable to 12/ 13th century Tibet. What I would like to do here is first to establish how Davidson characterizes the neoconservatism he perceives in Tibet, then investigate whether such characterizations arejustified and what isgained by them. The term inquestion occurs several times through- out Davidson's book. - Page 8: The teachings of 'Phags-pa (Sa-paJ;l'snephew) aredescribed as neoconservative, used here as a contrast to "actual shamanistic prac- . " tlce. - Page 13: The term isused here incontrast to the "indigenous Tibetan conservatives-who maintained the superiority of the older aristocratic clans and the authority of the indigenous gods and looked for the restoration of the monarchy and the resurrection of the imperium." The neoconservatives instead "took as their standard authenticity the feudalistic Buddhist monasteries in India." Their ideal was an "ortho- dox curriculum, as well as an enlightened monastic and civil admin- istration." Furthermore, "for them, anything un-Indian was by defini- tion un-Buddhist, sothat all innovations (... ) [were] illegitimate." And "even this was not enough," for some" castigated practices or ideas that wereobservably Indian but not part of the curriculum of selected great monasteries." Such condemned practices and ideas are exemplified by Davidson through those of the Red Acarya and Pha-dam-pa Sangs- rgyas. The neoconservatives were "not aspecific sociological formation but an ideological voice appropriated by selected individuals." - Page I54: The neoconservative position "represents agreatly restricted image of the authentic Dharma," which is asan idea "only marginally Buddhist, for Indians had always kept to the ideal of a canon with indeterminate limits." - Page 289: The thirteenth century saw a "neoconservative attempt to align Gampopa's position with that of Heshang Moheyan ( ) collaps- ing the distinctions between the Mahamudra and Chan ( )." - Page334: The Same Intention of the ,Bri-gung-pa was "acombination of synthetic philosophical vision and neoconservative comments." The work criticizes "some of the sameprinciples that later came under Sakya PaJ:l9.ita'sdisapproval" and "it attempted to paper over some of the differences between the Sakyapa (... ) and the Mahamudra." This was Jan-Ulrich Sobisch / Indo-Iranian Journal 53 (20IO) 23-33 understandable "for both subscribed to the idea of the triple discipline (trisamvara), and both considered the Sarma yogic systems to be the pinnacle of the Buddha's dispensation. (... ) Unfortunately, precisely because of their similarities, these Sarma systems came to occupy the same religious niche, making the various Kagyiipa and Sakyapa lineages competitors rather than partners." - Page 375: The neoconservative movement, "including Drigung Jikten Gonpo, Sakya PaJ;lqita, Chaglo Choje-pel, and others (... ) saw what they understood as the Buddha's pure message being eroded within as well aswithout, and the natural creativity of the Tibetan people embod- ied in the work of Chapa, Gampopa, the Terma masters, and others was perceived as heresy and doctrinal betrayal. Consequently, they worked to suppress any deviation from the norm, criticizing the Buddhist activ- ity that they understood to beun-Indian, and in doing so, they adopted astandard that was atheoretical position rather than areal Indian con- struct. Unknown to or unacknowledged by the neoconservatives, many of the same behaviors and ideas that they criticized in early-thirteenth- century Tibet had been found in India for many centuries." Neoconservatives vs. Ancient Aristocracy One of the central theses of Davidson's book is that the new translation period supersedes the paradigm of the superiority of the ancient aristo- cratic clans, with the new translators as (a kind of) new aristocracy. As an overall observation, this is certainly worth discussing, yet the devil is in the details. Davidson also characterizes neoconservatives, whose most prominent members areaccording to him Sa-paJ;l and 'Jig-rten-mgon-po, as opposing the superiority of the older aristocratic clans (p. 13)-in contrast to the "indigenous Tibetan conservatives." Sa-paJ;l, however, was amember of the 'Khon clan, which traces itself back to Jo-bo 'Khon-par-skyes, begot by a Tibetan woman and a demon. In their line we find 'Khon dPal-po- che, who was aminister (nang blon) of king Khri-srong IDe-btsan. His third son, 'Khon kLu'i-dbang-po-bsrung-ba was claimed to be the third of the sixth of the "Seven Tested Men" (sad mi). 8As iswell known, the 'Khon clan still exists today and the head of the Sa-skya-pas is its descendant. At one point, A-mes-zhabs, one of the great throne holders of the 17th century, 8) Theroots of the 'Khon plan arebriefly described inthe Blue Annals, section 4.2. Jan-Ulrich Sobisch / Indo-Iranian Journal 53 (20IO) 23-33 27 gaveup his monk vows in order to produce male offspring for the clan. 9 In short, there can be no doubt that the Sa-skya-pas hold their ancient roots inhighest esteemand I haveseenno indication that Sa-paJ:!would make an exception. 'Jig-rten-mgon-po was adescendant of the sKyu-ra clan, which claimed itsdescent fromking Ral-pa-can (ruled 815-838). 'Jig-rten-mgon- powanted to make amember of the clanthesuccessor to thethrone of'Bri- gung, but his nephew declined. Mter afirst interim candidate followed a member of the sKyu-ra clan. Until the 16th century the throne remained hereditary among the clan with only very few exceptions. There can be no doubt that the overall attitude towards the old aristocratic structures changed after the loth century. But that Sa-paJ:land 'Jig-rten-mgon-po- neoconservatives according to Davidson-were opposed to the idea that their ancient clans had great authority must bedoubted. Davidson's claim that neoconservatives such asSa-paJ:land 'Jig-rten-mgon-po were opposed to the superiority of the older aristocratic clans also lacks concrete doc- umentation. Given the fact that they also had agenuine appreciation of their own ancient Tibetan roots, including their connection to some of the great figures during the imperial period, the contrast that is built up by Davidson appears to be in some respects much weaker than portrayed by him. It remains to be seen how far such an opposition is sufficient as a characterization of their supposed neoconservativeness. Un-Indian, Un-Buddhist, and the Limits of the Canon That the neoconservatives "took as their standard of authenticity the (... ) Buddhist monasteries in India" with their "orthodox curriculum" (p. 13) appears to be by and large a fitting characterization of Sa-paJis schol- arly program. But is for him "anything un-Indian (... ) by definition un- Buddhist, sothat all innovations (... ) [are] illegitimate"? Sa-paJ:!wasindeed suspicious of the bKa'-brgyud-pa's Great Seal (mahdmudrd) doctrine, call- ing it "virtually [the same as] the Chinese religious system" (Clear Dif ferentiation 3.175). But that does not mean that herefuted that Great Seal teaching because it wasun-Indian and for that reason un-Buddhist. Instead he identified some of its aspects as being similar to the teaching of the Chinese Heshang Mahayana, whose doctrine was refuted by the Indian master Kamalasila. It iscertainly true that Sa-paJ:lwas highly suspicious of 9) See Sobisch (207),16-18. Jan-Ulrich Sobisch / Indo-Iranian Journal 53 (20IO) 23-33 teachings that did not originate inIndia, for India wasnot only thecradleof Buddhism but alsothe placewhere numerous truly great Buddhist scholars and yogis had been active. Since Buddhism anywhere is deeply rooted in Indian scholarship and yogic accomplishment, it is certainly obvious to search there for authenticity. But Sa-paJ;lwas not an uncritical Indophile, since he also rejected teachings of doubtlessly Indian origin. And Sa-paJ:! was also not alone in this respect. It is certainly not wrong to say that the majority of Tibetan masters would share both his appreciation for Indian scholarship and accomplishments and his concern for authenticity. In short, it isdifficult to seethese concerns asthe special characteristics of aneoconservative. 'Jig-rten-mgon-po, on the other hand, can hardly besaid to have taken as his standard authenticity the Buddhist monasteries in India. Although his insistence on pure monastic discipline earned him a reputation as a strict follower of the vinaya,10there is no indication that any scholarly "orthodox curriculum" comparable to that of the great Indian monaster- ies was adhered to in 'Bri-gung at any time. The abbatial history of 'Bri- gung reports regular teachings ontheSame Intention, other profound Dhar- mas (zab chos), and the Essence of the Mahayana Teachings, agradual teach- ings text that functions as acommentary on the practice and conduct of the vinaya, of the bodhisattvas and tantric adepts, and on mahamudra. ll Although I haven't been able to study all of the available teachings of 'Jig- rten-mgon-po, I never found an instance where he condemned anything 10) Some of the biographies of 'Jig-rten-mgon-po report that when hegaveup the abbot's seat at Phag-mo-gru, hedid sobecause, among other things, themonks there refusedtogive up theuseof alcohol (e.g.'Bri gung gdan rabs gser phreng, Bod ljongs bod yigdpernying dpe skrun khang, p. 78). C Karma-chags-med's statement (Ri chos, rTsib ri spar ma, p. 78), according towhich the bKa'-brgyud-pa's areabit lenient with thevinayavowsbecausethey followVibhiiticandra's viewof the superioriry of the mantra vowsover the pratimolq;a vows -with the notable exception of 'Jig-rten-mgon-po, who held that the higher vows were evenmore rigid than the lower ones (calsoSame Intention, supplement no. 13). 11) Later, from the beginning of the 14th century onwards a camp was established in the summer and instructions on the Fivefold Path of Mahamudra (phyag chen lnga ldan) were bestowed. The monks remained in small tents for practice. For the winter teachings they went up into the mountains, where the instructions of the sixyogas of Naropa were bestowed. The monks practiced producing the heat of gtum mo, wearing merely a single cotton shirt. A1; supporting teachings they received the profound teachings (zab chos) of theEssence of the Mahayana Teachings (1heg chen bstan pa'i snying po) and the Same Intention (Dam chos dgongs pa gcig pa), together with theteachings of former masters andthenecessary tantric initiations. Cf. the 'Bri gung gdan rabs gser phreng, pp. I26 , the biography ofbCu- gnyis-pa Rin-po-che rDo-rje-rin-chen (1278-1314). Jan-Ulrich Sobisch / Indo-Iranian Journal 53 (20IO) 23-33 29 as being un-Indian and therefore un-Buddhist. To the contrary, I found several instances where he criticized such an attitude in strong and explicit terms. 12 Davidson (p. 13) also states that the neoconservatives "castigated prac- tices or ideas that were observably Indian but not part of the curriculum of selected great monasteries," identifying these practices and ideas asthose of the Red Acarya and Pha-dam-pa Sangs-rgyas. Having studied myself a bit the nebulous figure of the Red Acarya and stories surrounding him, I do not think that he-or better: the practices ascribed to him-were crit- icized in Tibet because they were deemed un-Indian, but rather (if the accusations were true) because they took literally what should have been understood assecret language with ahidden meaning, and they encouraged tantric adepts to abandon their vinaya VOWS. 13 That the neoconservatives 12) See 'Jig-nen-mgon-po, sDe snod gsum gyi nyams len bsil byed tsan dan gyi phreng ba (Collected Works, Dehra Dun: Drikung KagyuInstitute), vol. I, p. 180: "Somedefame the instructions of theTathagatas, sayingthings like'only this Dharma of mine isDharma, what the others practice isnot Dharma,' 'the mantra of the rNying-ma-pas isnot Dharma,' 'the practice ofVajrapalji isnot Dharma,' and 'mental inactivity (amanasiktira) isnot Dharma.' They create attachment, aversion and delusion. Sincethe ripening [of such conduct] with the result 'samsara' and 'lower realms' is pitiful, having seen and heard a great number of scriptures of the Sugata with your eye of discriminating wisdom arising from study, reflection and practice, you should never disparage (gang fa yang skur ba mi 'debs) [any teaching]!" 13) Blue Annals, chapter 8.19: "In the loth century an Indian 'paljqita named Shes-rab- gsang-ba (Prajfitigupta), who was also known by the name of AciiryaSham-thabs-dmar- po, translated the Phyag chen thig le rgyud. Theeighteen Ar-tsho-ban-de werehis disciples, according to some authors. The doctrine of the Eighteen Ar-tsho-ban-de consisted of a corrupt formofTantric practices: they kidnapped women and men, and used to perform human sacrificesduring Tantric feasts (ga1Jacakrapuja). It issaidthat their practices caused the Tibetan kings of Guge to invite dPal Atisa." TheRed Master's systemhasbeen described by Karma-chags-med (1613-1678), inthis way (Ri chos, pp. 72): "[According to] his religious system, [all the vows were] taken [successively], beginning with the vows of refuge, up to those of a monk. Each [set of vows] wasmaintained for someyears [or] months according to the authoritative scriptures. Thereafter, by receiving the [ritual of] the production of the resolve for awakening, the pratimokia vows turned into the bodhisattva vows. After that, none of the Vinaya rules had to bemaintained. Thetraining of theresolvefor awakening, the meditative exchangeof oneself and others, wascultivated for someyears. Thereafter, byreceivingthefour initiations of the Mantra, these bodhisatrva vows, too, turned into the vows of Mantra. After that, the training of the bodhisatrva vows did not have to be maintained. Because one was a practitioner of Mantra, onewasevenallowedtotakeawife, [and] eventhough onetook one, the defect of having lost the [monastic] vowsdid not occur. Becausehis followers increased greatly, householder monks (lit. "yellow householders") spread everywhere in mNga'-ris, dBusand gTsang. All learned ones censureandrefute [thisdoctrine], callingit the"perverted Jan-Ulrich Sobisch / Indo-Iranian Journal 53 (20IO) 23-33 "castigated practices or ideas that were observably Indian" shows, to repeat, that they were not uncritically accepting everything only because it was Indian. It also had to be in accordance with the Buddhist teachings on disciplined conduct (fila) and with aview that avoided extreme positions. Interesting is also Davidson's remark (p. 154), according to which the neoconservative position "represents a greatly restricted image of the au- thentic Dharma." Why is it restricted? Because it does not subscribe "to the ideal of acanon with indeterminate limits." This is one of Davidson's many more or less obvious personal agendas to be found in his book. In this case he seems to be in favor of an "open canon" to which new revela- tions can beadded asauthentic Dharma. Such new revelations must not be Indian, of course, because the un-Indian, as we can sense from his earlier statements, must not necessarily be un-Buddhist (because that would be a restricted image). Strange, however, is Davidson's afterthought, according to which such arestricted image is an idea "only marginally Buddhist, for Indians had always kept to the ideal of acanon with indeterminate limits." Are we to understand from this that in order to be afully authentic Bud- dhist, one has to be like the "Indians [who] had always kept to the ideal of acanon with indeterminate limits"? In that case, Davidson himself seems to have a "restricted image" of what the authentically Buddhist must be, namely Indian. Deception, Betrayal, and Heresy With regard to the Same Intention of the 'Bri-gung-pa, Davidson remarks that the work criticizes "some of the same principles that later came under Sakya PaJ;l9.ita'sdisapproval." This is a very interesting observation, but unfortunately the author doesn't provide concrete examples. My hunch is that this might refer to 'Jig-rten-mgon-po's and Sa-paJ;l'semphasis on strict disciplined conduct that ismost visible in their attempts to revalue the role of the pratimo~a vows. This attitude, however, goes back in the Sa-skya- pa's case (at least) to Sa-paJ;l'suncle Grags-pa-rgyal-mtshan and in 'Jig-rten- mgon-po's case (at least) to his guru Phag-mo-gru-pa. 14 But Davidson seems to have other things in mind aswell, when he states that the Same Intention doctrine of the Red Master." For some examples of how the hidden language of the tantras isto beunderstood according to 'Jig-rten-mgon-po, seeSobisch (2002), 373ff. 14) Aspects of the Sa-skya-pa's and the 'Bri-gung-pa's view regarding disciplined conduct havebeen documented and analyzed in Sobisch (2002). Jan-Ulrich Sobisch / Indo-Iranian Journal 53 (20IO) 23-33 3 1 "attempted to paper over some of the differences between the Sakyapa (... ) and the Mahamudra." Apart from the unfortunate choice of the term "to paper over," which implies ahalfhearted and hardly honest attempt to make problems invisible, I wonder whether this is the caseat all, at least in the unspecified and general sense. On the other hand, I have also noticed on several occasions that despite their differences interminology and doctrinal presentation, Sa-paJ;l and 'Jig-rten-mgon-po in fact do not seemto always bevery far apart. 15 I believethat Davidson could bequite right when hesays that "precisely because of their similarities, these Sarma systems came to occupy the same religious niche, making the various Kagyiipa and Sakyapa lineages competitors rather than partners." We need, however, alot more casestudy in order to substantiate such an assessment. In the conclusion of his book, Davidson states that it was the agenda of the neoconservative movement that they saw the "Buddha's pure message being eroded within aswell aswithout." I wonder why Davidson perceives here a"movement" at work. The evidence presented in his book is far too little and not concrete enough to postulate a whole movement, and he himself has stated (p. 14) that the neoconservatives were "not a specific sociological formation but an ideological voice appropriated by selected individuals." And to seethe "Buddha's pure message being eroded" is, in my mind, not acommon agenda, but rather a topos of Tibetan religious literature (and certainly also of Indian literature) well known to all who read widely (which Davidson certainly does). Davidson continues that "the natural creativity of the Tibetan people embodied in the work of Chapa, Gampopa, the Terma masters, and others was perceived [by the neoconservatives] as heresy and doctrinal betrayal." Again I perceive a term such as "creativity" in this context as an unfortunate choice, since it does neither refer to creativity inwriting (asin "creative writing") nor to the creative ways of exposition, but rather implies doctrinal inventiveness (hence "heresy and doctrinal betrayal"). What actually ishappening here is that Davidson seems to mix up his personal preference for Gampopa and the Terma masters with the way he perceives such people as Sa-paJ:!and 'Jig-rten-mgon-po. At least in the caseof the latter, documented evidence that he condemned any Buddhist master as a heretic and fraud is totally lacking in Davidson's book. Where did 'Jig-rten-mgon-po "work [... ] to suppress any deviation from the norm, criticizing [... ] Buddhist activity"? 15) For some remarks on Sa-paJjs and 'Jig-rten-mgon-po's positions on Mahamudra and their closeness despite terminological differences, seeSobisch (forthcoming 2009b). Jan-Ulrich Sobisch / Indo-Iranian Journal 53 (20IO) 23-33 Methodological Considerations This brings me to alast, more general point. Davidson's invention of the category "neoconservative" introduces aculture- and author-alien concept into the discussion. One of the many questions that arise is, whether all or only some of the above mentioned characterizations arenecessary to be a neoconservative. If all characterizations would be necessary, we would have a monothetic group. But since many of those characterizations are doubtful and arguably not fitting, especially not to the 'Bri-gung-pa, we rather seem to have a polythetic group, i.e. one in which none of its ele- ments are essential or alone sufficient to make someone amember of that group.16 In this case, however, there is the real danger that the category "neoconservative" lacks significance and that membership in that group has practically no meaning. In other words: the value of such an etic cate- gory ishighly questionable. AsSeyfort Ruegg has once formulated, wefirst have to strive to understand the categories and terminologies of the source culture itself, and how these categories relate to one another systemically and structurally. This will then become asolid foundation upon which we may carry out more generalizing and comparative investigations, avoiding thereby the superimposing of extraneous modes of thinking and interpre- tative gridsY References Davenport, John (2000) Ordinary Wisdom: Sakya Pandita's Treasury of Good Advice, Wisdom Publications. Davidson, Ronald (2005) Tibetan Renaissance: Ttmtric Buddhism in the Rebirth of Tibetan Culture, New York: Columbia University Press. Gold, Jonathan (2007) The Dharma's Gatekeepers: Sakya PalJt.lita on Buddhist Schol- arship in Tibet, Albany, N..: State University of New York Press. Jackson, David P. (1987) The Entrance Gate for the Wise (Section III). Sa-skya PalJt.lita on Indian and Tibetan Traditions of PramalJa and Philosophical Debate, (Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 17), Vienna: Arbeits- kreis fur Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien Universitat Wien. 16) Fora discussion of mono and polythetic groups, seeNeedham (1972) and (1975).1hese were, to thebest of myknowledge, first introduced into thediscussion inour fieldbyDavid Seyfoft Ruegg. 17) For an interesting discussion of such ascholarly approach, seeSeyfoft Ruegg (1995), 156 If. Jan-Ulrich Sobisch / Indo-Iranian Journal 53 (20IO) 23-33 33 van der Kuijp, Leonard (1987) "An Early Tibetan View of the Soteriology of Buddhist Epistemology: The Case of 'Bri-gung 'Jig-rten-mgon-po," Journal of Indian Philosophy, 15 1 I: 57-70. Liu, Kuo-wei (2002) "'Jig-rten-mgon-po and the 'Single Intention' (Dgongs gcig): His view on Bodhisattva vows and its influence on Medieval Tibetan Bud- dhism," PhD dissertation, Harvard University. 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Seyfort Ruegg, David (1995) "Some Reflections on the Place of Philosophy in the Study of Buddhism," Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 18/2: 145 -181. Sobisch, Jan-Ulrich (2002) Three-vow Theories in Tibetan Buddhism: A Compar- ative Study of Major Traditions from the Twelfth Through Nineteenth Centuries, (Contributions to Tibetan Studies I), Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag. --, (2006) Licht, das die Dunkelheit durchbricht: Einfuhrung in die "angeborene Einheit" von Drikung Kyobpa Jigten Gonpo, (Introduction, Edition and Transla- tion), Miinchen: Otter Verlag. --, (2007) Life, Transmissions, and WOrks of A-mes-zhabs Ngag-dbang-kun-dga'... bsod-nams, the Great I7th Century Sa-skya-pa Bibliophile, Hartmut-Ortwin Feistel (ed.), (Verzeichnis der orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland, VOHD, Supplementband 38), Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag. --, (forthcoming 2oo9a) Review of Gold 2007, to appear in theJournal of the American Oriental Society. --, (forthcoming 2009b) "Guru-Devotion in the bKa' brgyud pa Tradition: The Single Means to Realisation," Tibetan Studies IO, Proceedings of the Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Bonn, 2006.