Chapa Chokyi Senge and the Intellectual History of His Middle-Way Philosophy

It is well known that the foundational moment in the development of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy in Tibet occurred in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries. However, less well known are a number of the crucial people, places, and particular philosophical innovations that were at the heart of these developments. This dissertation, titled “Chapa Chökyi Sengé (1109–1169) and His Middle-Way Philosophy,” focuses on one of the greatest twelfth-century Tibetan philosophers, arguing that much of what would become central to Buddhist intellectual life in Tibet can be found in the interpretive innovations of a single philosopher and his critical perspectives on Indian Buddhist thought. To this end, the dissertation highlights Chapa Chökyi Sengé’s interpretation of the crucial two truths doctrine (Skt. satyadvaya) in relation to primary Indian philosophical sources in the works of Jñānagarbha (8th century), Śāntarakṣita (ca. 725–ca. 788), and Kamalaśīla (ca. 740–ca. 795). More specifically, this dissertation argues that, from a historical perspective, Chapa was one of the most important creative forces behind numerous intellectual developments that eventually became the backbone of the predominant Tibetan systems of intellectual thought and literature. On the philosophical side, Chapa contributed a number of original philosophical ideas to the development of Tibetan Middle Way philosophy.