Ocean of Reasoning

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Translators’ Introduction
Homage to Man˜jus´rı¯ in gratitude for his inspiration of the great teachers of
the Maha¯ya¯na tradition whose insight and care in composing their treatises
have made this work possible.
The reader of this translation of an early fifteenth-century Tibetan philosophical
text will have to get used to the heavily outlined prose style used by
Tsong khapa and other Tibetan scholars in the composition of such texts. So
let us get started here. This introduction has five parts: the life and works of
Tsong khapa, a discussion of the text and its structure, our methodology, comments
on the root text and our translation of it, and our acknowledgments.

1. The Life and Works of Tsong khapa
This section has two parts: a brief biography of Tsong khapa and the principal
works of Tsong khapa.

1.1 A brief biography of Tsong khapa
Tsong khapa (whose ordination name was actually bLo bZang Grags pa, /
Lobsang Dakpa/ but who is universally known as “Tsong khapa” [the man from
Tsong kha] sometimes prefaced with the Tibetan honorific title “rJe” [Lord] or
as “rJe Rin po che” [Precious Lord]) was born in Tsong kha in the Amdo region
of Tibet in 1357. He studied widely as a young man and was taught by many
of the leading scholars of all of the Tibetan traditions of his day, in particular
the Sakya masters Red mda ba /Rendawa/ and Rinchen rDo rJe /Rinchen
x translators’ introduction
Dorje/; the Kagyu master sPyan snga Rin po che /Chenga Rinpoche/; and the
Jo-nangpa masters Bo dong Phyags las rNam rGyal /Bodong Chakleh Namgyal/,
Khyung po Lhas pa /Khyungpo Hlehpa/ and Chos kyi dPal pa /Cho¨kyi
Pelpa/.
Tsong khapa was recognized early in life as a scholar and practitioner of
enormous promise and deep understanding and even in his youth was widely
sought as a teacher. He continued to study throughout his life, and his works
demonstrate an enormous mastery of Indian and earlier Tibetan philosophical
literature, logic, hermeneutical theory, and tantra, as well as an extraordinarily
synoptic mind, a powerful grasp of subtle detail, and the ability to see how
small details matter in philosophical exposition. His work always reflects penetrating
analytical insight. His career output is enormous, comprising six major
treatises and dozens of smaller texts as well as hundreds of brief philosophical
and religious poems. His entire corpus comprises eighteen volumes.
Tsong khapa’s first principal treatise, Legs bshad gser ‘phreng /Lekshe serten/,
or The Golden Rosary of Eloquence, was completed when he was thirty
years old, after over a decade of work. It is an extensive and complex text,
demonstrating philosophical sympathy for the Yoga¯ca¯ra or Cittama¯tra (Buddhist
idealist) school of philosophy, reflecting Tsong khapa’s early scholarly
focus on the Maitreya texts foundational to that school and the treatises and
commentaries of the great Indian Cittama¯tra philosophers Asan˙ ga, Vasubandhu,
and Sthiramati. His account of Madhyamaka in that text focuses primarily
on its negative dialectical character. While it is an important and profound text,
it does not reflect Tsong khapa’s mature philosophical views.1


1.2 The principal works of Tsong khapa
Tsong khapa’s six major works comprise two independent philosophical treatises,
two explicitly commentarial works, and two treatises on practicing the
path to enlightenment. But this division is somewhat artificial and misleading.
Each of his texts is packed with philosophical argument, each involves extensive
commentary on Indian Buddhist texts and discussions of Indian and Tibetan
commentaries, and each is concerned with the point of Buddhist philosophy—
practicing the Buddhist path to enlightenment.
His two independent treatises are his earliest major treatise, Legs bshad
gser ‘phreng, and his enormously influential (and complex) text on Buddhist
hermeneutics, Legs bshad snying po ([Extensive] Essence of Eloquence).
Tsong khapa’s major treatises on the path are Lam rim chen mo and sNags
rim chen mo /Nahk rim chenmo/ (Great Exposition of the Tantric Path). The
former is a complete treatise on all stages of Buddhist practice; the latter specifically
addresses the practice, the realizations to be achieved, and the way of
life of a tantric practitioner.


Preliminary Explanations
Outline of Preliminary Explanations
1. Necessity and Manner of Investigating the Way Things Really Are
2. Greatness of the Author of the Text
3. The Articulation of His Treatises
4. The Benefits of Aspiring to the Profound Dharma
5. Identifying the Vessel into which the Profound Dharma Can Be Introduced
The preliminary explanation is the first of two parts of this commentary, the
second of which is the principal explanation. This chapter has five parts: the
necessity and manner of investigating the way things really are, the greatness
of the author of the text, the articulation of his treatises, the benefits of aspiring
to the profound Dharma, and identifying the vessel into which the profound
Dharma can be introduced.1