Overview

Tsong khapa (14th-15th centuries) is arguably the most important and influential philosopher in Tibetan history. His Ocean of Reasoning is the most extensive and perhaps the deepest extant commentary on N=ag=arjuna's M=ulamadhyamakak=arik=a (Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way), and it can be argued that it is impossible to discuss N=ag=arjuna's work in an informed way without consulting it. It discusses alternative readings of the text and prior commentaries and provides a detailed exegesis, constituting a systematic presentation of Madhyamaka Buddhist philosophy. Despite its central importance, however, of Tsong khapa's three most important texts, only Ocean of Reasoning has until now remained untranslated, perhaps because it is both philosophically and linguistically challenging, demanding a rare combination of abilities on the part of a translator. Jay L. Garfield and Geshe Ngawang Samten bring the requisite skills to this difficult task, combining between them expertise in Western and Indian philosophy, and fluency in Tibetan, Sanskrit, and English. The resulting translation of this important text is not only a landmark contribution to the scholarship of Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, but will be invaluable to students of Tibetan Buddhism and philosophy, who will now be able to read this work alongside N=ag=arjuna's masterpiece.

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With the publications of Ngawang Samten and Jay Garfield's lucid translation of the Ocean of Reasoning, by the founder of Geluk, Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), Western readers can for the first time appropriate the most influential Tibetian commentary on the single most important text in the Mahayana philosophical canon. --Buddhadharma Samten and Garfield have achieved a small miracle by making Ocean of Reasoinng as clear and accessible in English as they have. Tsongkhapa's interpretation of the Fundamental Verses is consistent and compelling. --Buddhadharma This book is essential reading for those who are seriously interested in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. The combination of a prominent Tibetan scholar and a Western philosopher yields an erudite but readable translation of one of the most important Tibetan works on Madhyamaka philosophy. The authors do a superb job of introducing the text and in rendering it into English in a way that makes it accessible to readers with a background in Buddhist thought or Western philosophy. -- John Powers, author of Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism In so clearly presenting Tsongkhapa's text, [the authors] have produced a model work, which will hopefully be emulated by others working in the field. It is highly recommended for anyone who is seriously interested in Madhyamaka philosophy and/or its reception in Tibet. --Religious Studies Review

..accuracy cannot be achieved without elegance, and the translators' awareness of this fact is evident throughout. TLS Geshe Ngawang Samten and Jay Garfield have succeeded in making available an invaluable resource for the study of Nagarjuna's Root Verses of the Middle Way and the subsequent development of his philosophy by South Asian and Tibetan thinkers. Felix Holmgren, TLS

..accuracy cannot be achieved without elegance, and the translators' awareness of this fact is evident throughout. TLS Geshe Ngawang Samten and Jay Garfield have succeeded in making available an invaluable resource for the study of Nagarjuna's Root Verses of the Middle Way and the subsequent development of his philosophy by South Asian and Tibetan thinkers. Felix Holmgren, TLS

Author Information

Jay L. Garfield is Doris Silbert Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Philosophy at Smith College and Director of the Five Colleges Tibetan Studies in India Program, and also teaches at the Universities of Massachusetts and Melbourne and the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in India. He is the author of The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way (OUP 1995), which is the standard English translation of N=ag=arjuna's M=ulamadhyamakak=arik=a, and Empty Words: Buddhist Philosophy and Cross-Cultural Interpretation (OUP 2002). Geshe Ngawang Samten is Director and Vice Chancellor, as well as Professor of Indian Buddhist Philosophy, of the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in India. He is the editor of the standard critical Tibetan edition of N=ag=arjuna's ratnavali (CIHTS Press 1991).

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