Rangtong – The nature of emptiness

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Rangtong is the majority Tibetan teaching on the nature of śūnyatā or “emptiness”, namely that all phenomena are empty of a self-nature in both the relative and absolute sense, without positing anything beyond that.

This position is the mainstream Tibetan interpretation of Madhyamaka, especially by the followers of Prasaṅgika Mādhyamaka.

Origin of Rangtong view

Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), who also wrote in response to shentong, is the most outspoken defendant of rangtong.

He saw emptiness as a consequence of dependent designation, the teaching that nothing or phenomenon has an existence of its own, but always comes into existence in dependence upon conceptual designation by a conscious mind.

Tsongkhapa states that “things” do exist conventionally, but ultimately everything is dependently arisen, and therefore void of inherent existence.

This means that conventionally things do exist, and that there is no use in denying that.

But it also means that ultimately those things have no ‘existence of their own’, and that cognizing them as such results from cognitive operations, not from some unchangeable essence.

Concepts, people & schools

This is a glossary of concepts people and schools related to the Rangtong view.

Gelug

The Gelug is the newest of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It was founded by Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), a philosopher and Tibetan religious leader. The first monastery he established was named Ganden, and to this day the Ganden Tripa is the nominal head of the school, though its most influential figure is the Dalai Lama. Allying themselves with the Mongols as a powerful patron, the Gelug emerged as the pre-eminent Buddhist school in Tibet and Mongolia since the end of the 16th century.

Nagarjuna

Nāgārjuna is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers. Along with his disciple Āryadeva, he is considered to be the founder of the Madhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Nāgārjuna is also credited with developing the philosophy of the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras and, in some sources, with having revealed these scriptures in the world, having recovered them from the nāgas. Furthermore, he is traditionally supposed to have written several treatises on rasayana as well as serving a term as the head of Nālandā.

Je Tsongkhapa

Tsongkhapa, usually taken to mean “the Man from Onion Valley”, born in Amdo, was a famous teacher of Tibetan Buddhism whose activities led to the formation of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. He is also known by his ordained name Losang Drakpa or simply as “Je Rinpoche”. Also, he is known by Chinese as Zongkapa Lobsang Zhaba, He was the son of a Tibetan Longben Tribal leader who also once served as an official of the Yuan Dynasty of China.

Madhyamaka

Madhyamaka also known as Śūnyavāda and Niḥsvabhāvavāda refers to a tradition of Buddhist philosophy and practice founded by the Indian philosopher Nāgārjuna. The foundational text of the Mādhyamaka tradition is Nāgārjuna’s Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. More broadly, Madhyamaka also refers to the ultimate nature of phenomena and the realization of this in meditative equipoise.

Śūnyatā

Śūnyatā – pronounced in English as (shoon-ya-ta), translated most often as emptiness and sometimes voidness.

Within Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and other philosophical strands the concept has multiple meanings depending on its doctrinal context.

It is either an ontological feature of reality, a meditative state, or a phenomenological analysis of experience.