Abstract

This paper explores Shakya Chokden's approach to the philosophical dimensions of the tantric path. In particular, it explores how his philosophical ideas inform his interpretation of several stages of the Guhyasamāja practice with references to the generation stage ( bskyed rim ) and the completion stage ( rdzogs rim ). Shakya Chokden's interpretive approach involves four interrelated points: all ultimate and relative phenomena are mind-made; tantric practice is based on the other-emptiness view of reality as jñāna ; conceptuality envisioning tantric maṇḍalas is destroyed by—not transformed into—the non-conceptual jñāna manifesting them; and visions of maṇḍalas cultivated on the tantric path eventually arise from and appear to jñāna itself. The paper addresses all four, with the focus on the last claim, which is the most complicated feature of Shakya Chokden's approach.