Editing Tibetan Buddhism (section)

==Texts and study==
{{Main|Tibetan Buddhist canon}}
[[File:Tibetan - Buddha Shakyamuni and Prajnaparamita - Walters W8561 (2).jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.35|A leaf from a ''Prajñāpāramitā'' (Perfection of Wisdom) manuscript.]]

Study of major Buddhist Indian texts is central to the monastic curriculum in all four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. [[Memorization]] of classic texts as well as other ritual texts is expected as part of traditional monastic education. Another important part of higher religious education is the practice of formalized debate.{{sfnp|Kapstein|2014|p=63}}

The canon was mostly finalized in the 13th century, and divided into two parts, the [[Kangyur]] (containing sutras and tantras) and the [[Tengyur]] (containing ''shastras'' and commentaries). The [[Nyingma]] school also maintains a separate collection of texts called the [[Nyingma Gyubum]], assembled by Ratna Lingpa in the 15th century and revised by [[Jigme Lingpa]].{{sfnp|Samuel|2012|pp=19–20}}

Among Tibetans, the main language of study is [[classical Tibetan]], however, the Tibetan Buddhist canon was also translated into other languages, such as [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] and [[Manchu language|Manchu]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Badaraev |first1=Damdin D. |last2=Dyrkheeva |first2=Galina |last3=Antonova |first3=Nadezhda S. |date=February 2021 |title=The Language Situation among Buryat Schoolchildren of Russia, Mongolia and China |url=https://doi.org/10.31857/s013216250014005-8 |journal=Sotsiologicheskie Issledovaniya |issue=2 |pages=146–151 |doi=10.31857/s013216250014005-8 |issn=0132-1625}}</ref>

During the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, many texts from the Tibetan canon were also translated into Chinese.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Orzech |editor-first=Charles D. |year=2011 |title=Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia |publisher=Brill |page=540}}</ref>

Numerous texts have also recently been translated into Western languages by Western academics and Buddhist practitioners.{{sfnp|Samuel|2012|p=21}}

=== Sutras ===
[[File:Konchog-wangdu.jpeg|thumb|Buddhist monk Geshe Konchog Wangdu reads [[Mahayana sutra]]s from an old woodblock copy of the Tibetan [[Kangyur]]. He is seated at a special sutra stool, wearing the traditional woolen Ladakhi hat and robe, allowed by Vinaya for extremely cold conditions.]]

Among the most widely studied sutras in Tibetan Buddhism are [[Mahayana sutras|Mahāyāna sutras]] such as the ''Perfection of Wisdom'' or [[Prajnaparamita|''Prajñāpāramitā'']] sutras,{{sfnp|Powers|2007|pp=103–104}} and others such as the ''[[Sandhinirmocana Sutra|Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra]],'' and the ''[[Samadhiraja Sutra|Samādhirāja Sūtra]].''<ref>{{cite book |first1=Luis O. |last1=Gomez |first2=Jonathan A. |last2=Silk |title=Studies in the Literature of the Great Vehicle: Three Mahayana Buddhist Texts |place=Ann Arbor |publisher=University of Michigan |series=Michigan studies in Buddhist literature |date=1989 |page=viii |isbn=9780891480549 |oclc=20159406}}</ref>

According to [[Je Tsongkhapa|Tsongkhapa]], the two authoritative systems of Mahayana Philosophy (viz. that of Asaṅga – Yogacara and that of Nāgārjuna – Madhyamaka) are based on specific Mahāyāna sūtras: the ''Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra'' and the [[Akṣayamatinirdeśa Sūtra|''Questions of Akṣayamati'' (''Akṣayamatinirdeśa Sūtra'')]] respectively. Furthermore, according to [[Thupten Jinpa]], for Tsongkhapa, "at the heart of these two hermeneutical systems lies their interpretations of the Perfection of Wisdom sūtras, the archetypal example being the ''Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines''."<ref>{{cite book |author=Thupten Jinpa |year=2019 |title=Tsongkhapa A Buddha in the Land of Snows |series=Lives of the Masters |pages=219–220 |publisher=Shambhala}}</ref>

===Treatises of the Indian masters===
The study of Indian Buddhist treatises called ''[[shastra]]s'' is central to Tibetan Buddhist [[scholasticism]]. Some of the most important works are those by the six great Indian Mahayana authors which are known as the Six Ornaments and Two Supreme Ones (Tib. ''gyen druk chok nyi'', Wyl. ''rgyan drug mchog gnyis''), the six being: Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, Asanga, Vasubandhu, Dignaga, and Dharmakirti and the two being: Gunaprabha and Shakyaprabha (or Nagarjuna and Asanga depending on the tradition).{{sfnp|Ringu Tulku|2006|loc=ch. 3}}

Since the late 11th century, traditional Tibetan monastic colleges generally organized the exoteric study of Buddhism into "five great textual traditions" (''zhungchen-nga'').{{sfnp|Kapstein|2014|p=64}} 
# [[Abhidharma]]
#* [[Asanga]]'s ''[[Abhidharma-samuccaya]]''
#* [[Vasubandhu]]'s ''[[Abhidharma-kośa]]''
# [[Prajnaparamita]]
#* ''[[Abhisamayalankara]]''
#* [[Shantideva]]'s ''[[Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra]]''
# [[Madhyamaka]]
#* [[Nagarjuna]]'s ''[[Mūlamadhyamakakārikā]]''
#* [[Aryadeva]]'s ''Four Hundred Verses'' (''Catuhsataka'')
#* [[Candrakīrti]]'s ''[[Madhyamakāvatāra]]''
#* [[Śāntarakṣita]]'s ''[[Madhyamākalaṃkāra]]''
#* [[Shantideva]]'s ''[[Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra]]''
# [[Pramana]]
#* [[Dharmakirti]]'s ''[[Pramanavarttika|Pramāṇavarttika]]''
#* [[Dignāga]]'s ''[[Pramāṇa-samuccaya]]''
# [[Vinaya]]
#*Gunaprabha's ''Vinayamula Sutra''

===Other important texts===
Also of great importance are the "[[Maitreya-nātha#Attributed works|Five Treatises of Maitreya]]" including the influential ''[[Ratnagotravibhāga (text)|Ratnagotravibhāga]]'', a compendium of the [[Tathāgatagarbha sūtras|''tathāgatagarbha'' literature]], and the ''[[Mahayana-sutra-alamkara-karika|Mahayanasutralankara]]'', a text on the Mahayana path from the [[Yogacara]] perspective, which are often attributed to [[Asanga]]. Practiced focused texts such as the [[Yogacarabhumi|''Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra'']] and [[Kamalaśīla]]'s ''[[Bhāvanākrama]]'' are the major sources for meditation.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

While the Indian texts are often central, original material by key Tibetan scholars is also widely studied and collected into editions called ''sungbum''.{{sfnp|Samuel|2012|p=20}} The commentaries and interpretations that are used to shed light on these texts differ according to tradition. The Gelug school for example, use the works of [[Tsongkhapa]], while other schools may use the more recent work of [[Rimé movement]] scholars like [[Jamgon Kongtrul]] and [[Jamgon Ju Mipham Gyatso]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

A corpus of extra-canonical scripture, the [[terma (religion)|treasure texts]] (''terma'') literature is acknowledged by [[Nyingma]] practitioners, but the bulk of the canon that is not commentary was translated from Indian sources. True to its roots in the ''Pāla'' system of North India, however, Tibetan Buddhism carries on a tradition of eclectic accumulation and systematisation of diverse Buddhist elements, and pursues their synthesis. Prominent among these achievements have been the [[lamrim|Stages of the Path]] and [[lojong|mind training]] literature, both stemming from teachings by the Indian scholar [[Atiśa]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

===Tantric literature===
{{Main|Tantras (Buddhism)|Classes of Tantra in Tibetan Buddhism}}
In Tibetan Buddhism, the Buddhist Tantras are divided into four or six categories, with several sub-categories for the highest Tantras.

In the Nyingma, the division is into ''Outer Tantras'' ([[Classes of Tantra in Tibetan Buddhism#Kriyā|Kriyayoga]], [[Charyayoga]], [[Yogatantra]]); and ''Inner Tantras'' ([[Mahayoga]], [[Anuyoga]], [[Atiyoga]]/[[Dzogchen]]), which correspond to the "Anuttarayoga-tantra".<ref>"Yoginitantras are in the secondary literature often called Anuttarayoga. But this is based on a mistaken back translation of the Tibetan translation (rnal byor bla med kyi rgyud) of what appears in Sanskrit texts only as Yogānuttara or Yoganiruttara (cf. SANDERSON 1994: 97–98, fn.1)."

Isabelle Onians, "Tantric Buddhist Apologetics, or Antinomianism as a Norm," D.Phil. dissertation, Oxford, Trinity Term 2001. pg 70
</ref> For the Nyingma school, important tantras include the [[Guhyagarbha tantra|''Guhyagarbha Tantra'']], the ''[[Guhyasamāja Tantra|Guhyasamaja Tantra]],''{{sfnp|Samuel|2012|p=32}} the ''[[Kulayarāja Tantra]]'' and the 17 [[Seventeen tantras|Dzogchen Tantras]].

In the Sarma schools, the division is:{{sfnp|Samuel|2012|p=78}}

* '''''Kriya-yoga''''' – These have an emphasis on purification and ritual acts and include texts like the [[Mañjuśrī-mūla-kalpa|''Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa'']].
* '''''Charya-yoga''''' – Contain "a balance between external activities and internal practices", mainly referring to the ''[[Mahavairocana Tantra|Mahāvairocana Abhisaṃbodhi Tantra]].''
* '''''Yoga-tantra''''', is mainly concerned with internal yogic techniques and includes the ''[[Tattvasaṃgraha Tantra]].''
* [[Anuttarayoga Tantra|'''''Anuttarayoga-tantra''''']], contains more advanced techniques such as [[subtle body]] practices and is subdivided into: 
**Father tantras, which emphasize illusory body and [[Deity yoga|completion stage]] practices and includes the [[Guhyasamāja Tantra|''Guhyasamaja Tantra'']] and ''[[Yamantaka]] Tantra''.
**Mother tantras, which emphasize the development stage and [[Luminous mind|clear light mind]] and includes the ''[[Hevajra Tantra]]'' and ''[[Cakrasaṃvara Tantra|Cakrasamvara Tantra]].''
**Non-dual tantras, which balance the above elements, and mainly refers to the [[Kalacakra|''Kalacakra Tantra'']]

The root tantras themselves are almost unintelligible without the various Indian and Tibetan commentaries, therefore, they are never studied without the use of the tantric commentarial apparatus.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

===Transmission and realization===
There is a long history of [[Oral tradition|oral transmission]] of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism. Oral transmissions by [[Lineage (Buddhism)|lineage]] holders traditionally can take place in small groups or mass gatherings of listeners and may last for seconds (in the case of a [[Mantra#Buddhism|mantra]], for example) or months (as in the case of a section of the [[Tibetan Buddhist canon]]). It is held that a transmission can even occur without actually hearing, as in [[Asanga]]'s visions of [[Maitreya]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

An emphasis on oral transmission as more important than the printed word derives from the earliest period of Indian Buddhism, when it allowed teachings to be kept from those who should not hear them.{{sfnp|Conze|1993|p=26}} Hearing a teaching (transmission) readies the hearer for realization based on it. The person from whom one hears the teaching should have heard it as one link in a succession of listeners going back to the original speaker: the Buddha in the case of a ''[[Sūtra|sutra]]'' or the author in the case of a book. Then the hearing constitutes an authentic lineage of transmission. Authenticity of the oral lineage is a prerequisite for realization, hence the importance of lineages.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}