In the twelfth century, the Tibetan scholar rMa bya byang chub brtson ’grus formulated an original interpretation of doctrines set forth by the Indian Madhyamaka masters Nāgārjuna and Candrakīrti. His interpretation would profoundly influence the development of Madhya-maka thought in the “four schools” (chos lugs bzhi) of Buddhism in Tibet.
Based on texts that have in part only recently become available, the lecture will examine some of the central elements in rMa bya’s epistemology and consider their influence on later scholars. This will include raising the question of whether rMa bya’s anti-metaphysical pramāṇa position might be seen as empiricist.