The Lamp of Prajna: From Sectarian Schisms to the Banner of Dharma in the Snowy Land

After the Buddha entered nirvana, the Hinayana schools became embroiled in a dispute over the doctrine that “the three times truly exist.” Nagarjuna cleaved through the confusion with the “Middle Way of the Eight Negations,” while the brothers Asanga and Vasubandhu realized that “consciousness alone exists, and external objects do not.” Padmasambhava subdued the Bon religion and brought Buddhism to Tibet; Langdarma persecuted Buddhism, staining palm-leaf scriptures with blood. Tsongkhapa donned the yellow hat and restored the precepts, integrating the exoteric and esoteric teachings in his Stages of the Path to Enlightenment. After a thousand years, the Buddha’s alms bowl still bears witness: all disputes are but vessels for crossing over, while our own nature is already enlightenment.