Research Of Tsongkhapa's Samatha-Vipassana Thought

Samatha-Vipassana is one of the most important Buddhist thoughts,it developed along with the development of Buddhism.Every factions of Buddhism attaches great importance to Samatha-Vipassana though,each sect has a different outlook.The differences among the similarities can better reflect the characteristics of each sect.Tsongkhapa(1357-1419)was not only a great Tibetan religious philosopher in the middle ages,but also a great religious practitioner.His thought of Samatha-Vipassana is a distinctive part of his Buddhist thoughts,which reflects the perfect combination of his religious philosophy and religious practice.Through Samatha-Vipassana thoughts,we can have a more comprehensive and profound understanding of Tsongkhapa Buddhist thoughts.It can be said that Tsongkhapa's thoughts of Samatha-Vipassana is an epitome of his thoughts on Buddhism.In shamatha practice,according to the practice theory of Vijnana-vada and the practice method of Yogacara-Madhyamaka,Tsongkhapa clarified the conditions of practice.Then he used eight ways to eliminate five faults when doing shamatha meditation to achieve physical and mental light,which is the achievement of Samatha(tranquility)through the nine stages of meditation,six forces and other practices.In vipassana practice,Tsongkhapa held the Prasangika Madhyamaka view,adhered to the thorough empty theory,and cultivated by bringing Two Turths into harmony,by choosing Egolessness of selflessness of person pudgalanairatmya and Egolessness of selflessness of phenomana dharma-nairatmya.In order to deepen the understanding of the Madhyamaka view,Tsongkhapa established his own view while refuting the wrong view.He determined that neither too wide nor too narrow can be broken by defining the scope of the refuting.By breaking "Stay Away From Extremes Madhyamaka" to struggle with uccheda-ditthi,by denouncing Svatantrika madhyamak “ self-nature language and concept”,“Autonomy Svatantrika",comprehensively cleaned "Common",and refuted the enemy's point of view,then established the view that the laws have no self.According to Tsongkhapa,the practices of Samatha-Vipassana are like the two wings of a bird,neither side shall be ignored.The practice of the Samatha-Vipassanashould be balanced,and should be followed by the orders for practice both samatha and vipassana side by side to achieve the voidness wisdom.It is not difficult to see that Tsongkhapa's Samatha-Vipassana thought has fully absorbed the theory of practice method of Meso Yogacara in Kamalasila “Stages of Meditation ”.Through transformation,the practice of "samatha method" of the Yogacara and the practice of “vipassana method” of the Prasangika Madhyamaka are perfectly combined.Compared to Atisha “Lamp for the Path”,it is not difficult to find out that Samatha plays an important role in the system of the order practice.Tsongkhapa inherited the thought of the Atisha ' s samatha and further deepened,refined and innovated it.Through the preliminary study of Tsongkhapa's thought of Samatha-Vipassana,we can understand the position of Samatha-Vipassana in the thought of Buddhism,especially through the theoretical guidance of Tsongkhapa's thought of Samatha-Vipassana-view of Prasangika Madhyamikas.The specific steps of Tsongkhapa's practice of Samatha-Vipassana,the perfect combination of the Vijnana-vada and Madhyamika,the procedures of Samatha-Vipassana practice and the practice of samatha and vipassana side by side,can help people to further understand the characteristics of Tsongkhapa's thought.